The U.S.
Food and Drug Administration announced
Wednesday that U.S. Marshals seized almost 90,000 bottles worth over
$400,000 of a dietary supplement said to contain a psychoactive plant. 

The
FDA targeted Dordoniz Natural Products LLC in South Beloit, Ill., about 100
miles northwest of Chicago. The company sells the products under the brand name
RelaKzpro.

RelaKzpro’s
main ingredient, according to advertisements, is the South Asian plant Mitragyna speciosa, also known as
kratom. M. speciosa is a tree in the
coffee family whose leaves have been used in the region as a substitute
for opium.

The
FDA issued an import ban
on products containing kratom in 2014, citing a lack of available history to
determine the product’s safety. The agency could not find any marketing of the
ingredient as a dietary ingredient in the U.S. prior to 1994.

The
FDA also raised concerns that the plant’s known effects can include “respiratory
depression, nervousness, agitation, aggression, sleeplessness, hallucinations,
delusions, tremors, loss of libido, constipation, skin hyperpigmentation,
nausea, vomiting, and severe withdrawal signs and symptoms.”

RelaKzpro
is sold as a pain reliever and mood booster in the form of a drink. One
web ad for a wholesaler of the supplement claims M. speciose enhances one’s mood, “stimulates the body and increases
activity.”

The
FDA recommends against using any products containing kratom, and suggests
adverse events caused by the plant be reported through its MedWatch program.