2024 was an “absolute record” for seizures of the tainted honey, French customs officials said.
France last year seized record quantities of illegally imported “erectile honey” laced with Viagra and other medications, customs officials said Monday.
The honey, which is mostly shipped to France from Turkey, north Africa and southeast Asia, is sold on the black market and at night shops, where it is hawked as an all-natural sexual stimulant, according to the French customs office.
However, it often contains hidden pharmaceuticals like sildenafil or tadalafil, the main substances in the erectile dysfunction drugs Viagra and Cialis, news agency AFP reported. Those drugs can be dangerous if they interact with other medications, such as those treating high blood pressure.
French customs officials said Monday that 2024 “marked an absolute record” for seizures of the tainted honey. In a single sting last November at Marseille in southern France, they seized 13 tons from Malaysia.
The United States’ Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a public warning in 2021 and 2022 about honey-based supplements promising « sexual enhancement. »
The FDA said it had tested one brand, X Rated Honey for Men, and found traces of tadalafil.