Hi-Tech challenges journal study criticizing its ingredient Acacia rigidula

NORCROSS, Ga. — Hi-Tech Pharmaceuticals on Tuesday responded to a report in the journal Drug Testing and Analysis that charged supplements containing the ingredient Acacia rigidula also contained BMPEA, an amphetamine isomer. The company believes the Harvard-led study is similar to the recent testing performed by the New York attorney general on many herbal extracts, in that it's a faulty test. 

 

"Hi-Tech Pharmaceuticals has sold more than a billion doses of Acacia rigidula since 2003," said Jared Wheat, president Hi-Tech Pharmaceuticals. The company has conducted three clinical studies on the effects of Acacia rigidula and none have found any serious adverse events, he said, "other than possibly a jitter or shake which is common amongst stimulants."  

 

A 2013 study carried out by Food and Drug Administration scientists scrutinized the testing done and methods used by Texas A&M researchers and other scientists' studies on Acacia, Hi-Tech added. "Yesterday I responded to various news outlets seeking comment on the upcoming release of the Harvard led study by Pieter Cohen, the lead researcher and an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School. However, many of these news outlets did not give equal weight to, and in some cases did not even report on, the studies performed by Texas A&M finding various methylated Phenylethylamine alkaloids in Acacia Rigidula," said Wheat.

 

"The testing involved in Acacia and other plants coupled with the DNA testing performed by the New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman just leads to consumer concerns and bad science. These government entities are very good at testing pharmaceuticals, but are not familiar with botanical extracts, and the factors surrounding extraction and soil conditions that can lead to different analytical results," stated Wheat.

 

"I also feel this is a joint effort by big pharma and institutions to rid the marketplace of Acacia as they did with ephedrine in 2006," Wheat added. "Hi-Tech Pharmaceuticals fought the outlawing of ephedrine alkaloids and will not sit idly by while researchers and a biased media try to destroy acacia just so they can commercialize it into a prescription drug and ban it from the dietary supplement industry as they did with ephedrine alkaloids."