The makers of Craze have indefinitely terminated production of the popular pre-workout supplement after USA Today conducted an investigation in July 2013 to determine the ingredients in the performance-enhancing powder.
The investigation found that Craze includes a substance derived from methamphetamine. The testing of the product found 21 to 35 milligrams per serving of a stimulant called N,alpha-diethylphenylethylamine, or N,alpha-DEPEA, which is a banned substance.
“It’s a dose you would expect to see in a pharmaceutical,” said Dr. Pieter Cohen, a Harvard assistant professor of medicine and physician at Cambridge Health Alliance, “if N,alpha-DEPEA was on the market as a stimulant medication. Yet, the chemical is not listed anywhere on the product label as an ingredient.”
Craze is a popular supplement used in the bodybuilding world. Its properties are purported to help bodybuilders have more energy and more endurance during workouts after drinking the pre-workout supplement.
Under current laws, dietary supplements — including vitamins and herbal remedies — are treated like foods and assumed to be all-natural and safe. They do not require testing or approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration before being sold. Registration would give the FDA an early warning when supplement makers start selling products listing unusual ingredients.
Walmart.com and Bodybuilders.com pulled the supplement from their shelves after the initial investigation was completed in September.
