2023-06-11 11:55:59
When she got pregnant, and as often happens to millions of women, the Venezuelan Sascha Barboza gained several kilos of weight. But, determined to recover her figure, once her daughter Avril was born, she undertook the task of creating a kind of diary on her social networks, in which she documented the diets and exercises that she carried out and with which I was getting obvious results. Her goal: for women to fall in love with fitness culture.
After overcoming that first personal challenge, he embarked on a new adventure: winning first place in two categories of the competition. National Physique Committee (NPC). It was August 2013 and Sascha had won the awards for ‘Bikini’ and ‘Most Feminine Without Much Muscle’. Since then, her name has become a must-have brand for wellness and healthy living in much of America: Sascha Fitness.
According to her website, this influencer is personal fitness trainercertified by the ISSA (International Sports Sciences Association), with studies in sports nutrition from the Spanish Federation of Bodybuilding and a master’s degree in Fitness Nutrition.
Moved by that recognition, began to develop a line of products that, according to what is read on its website and social networks, promises extensive benefits: enhance the immune system and increase energy levels. In addition, these products claim to contain enzymes that help improve digestion during consumption, preventing constipation, stomach discomfort, gas and bloating.
Under these promises, Sascha Fitness products have been marketed in Colombia and other countries in the region for several years as dietary supplements, and their buyers are especially women. They represent your biggest market.
But, this June, the National Institute for Food and Drug Surveillance (Invima) surprised Colombians with an alert regarding these products. The health entity assured that it received an anonymous complaint and, therefore, went in to verify that they complied with current regulations.
“This complaint was filed on the institute’s website, where they reported on the marketing and promotion, through the Sascha Fitness Colombia website, of dietary supplements without sanitary records and with unapproved statements,” says a source from the Directorate. of Medications per WEEK.
According to the source, “once the complaint is received (and only one is enough for an investigation to be opened), it is verified and analyzed. Depending on the type of product and the characteristics of the complaint, it is evaluated following the corresponding current health regulations. In the evaluation, it is verified if the product has registration or if the establishment that is listed as a manufacturer has authorization. And the pages and websites where they are being promoted and marketed are reviewed. As a result of these reviews, health alerts are issued to protect the health of the population, within the framework of Law 9 of 1979”.
And not one, but two alerts have been issued so far in June. What Invima found is that those from Sascha Fitness are promoted as products that provide various benefits to the body and promise to provide high protein levels to increase, decrease or maintain the muscle mass of consumers. In this case, says the entity, it would not be food, for which it issued a sanitary registry years ago, but rather medicines, a registry with which these products do not have in the country. That’s why he asked to stop using it.
Another of Invima’s objections refers to the fact that the information provided on the packages is in English, when the regulations of the Colombian Ministry of Health require that it be in Spanish so that the consumer has the necessary information to know, in greater detail. possible, not only what are the benefits, but also the contraindications when consuming them.
The influencer has denied that the marketing of her products in Colombia is not in order and explains exclusively for SEMANA that these are “manufactured in the United States, in laboratories with the highest quality standards.” In addition, they are inspected by the Food and Drug Administration of that country (FDA, for its acronym in English), with high-level certifications and all processes are tested and certified under ISO 17025”, adds Barboza.
He also comments that his products are “enhancers of good habits, each one has different functions, they are for people who lead a healthy and active life”, he assures this magazine.
Faced with the indication that the information on their content is in English, The Venezuelan assures that since they are “manufactured in the United States under the regulations of that country, the label is in English.”
According to Barboza, another factor that the authorities must take into account is that “there is a lot of black market and products that enter door to door. That one doesn’t have a label and that’s where a lot of confusion comes from as well.”
However, Invima clarifies that the alert is not issued on counterfeit products, but on original products that, according to the complaint, do not fulfill the promise of sale under which they are marketed.
At this point, a third protagonist enters the controversy, the importer and distributor of these supplements in the country: Green Performance. In a statement dated June 6, the company alleges that the brand’s products are manufactured in the United States “and imported into Colombia, so the regulations regarding the marketing of food and supplements differ in some points.”
The role of surveillance agencies
The matter is partially true. In America there are a total of eight drug and food surveillance agencies. The best known is the FDA, in the United States, where alerts such as those issued once morest Sascha Fitness products can even lead to criminal sanctions.
But there are also others in Canada, Mexico, Cuba, Brazil, Argentina, Chile and Colombia, with Invima. “They are all equally important and have the scientific endorsement of the World Health Organization (WHO) for their operation. Therefore, it is not valid to say that since the FDA gave its approval, the Invima of Colombia cannot issue an alert to the contrary,” says the source of the national entity.
For the Invima, the real underlying concern should be the risks posed to consumer health by ingesting products that do not meet the standards of the dietary supplement category.
“Fraudulent products of unknown composition, which do not have the support of a sanitary registry, within the framework of Decree 3249 of 2006, of which there is no knowledge of the conditions of their storage, transport and distribution in the country, They represent a risk to the health of those who consume them. For example, in people who have cardiovascular diseases, hypersensitivity reactions, gastrointestinal problems, poisoning, severe liver function failure, among other conditions, can occur. explains the Invima.
Hence, he reiterates, the importance of having adequate records. “Products classified as dietary supplements have been investigated and analyzed for contamination with hidden substances in their components, such as ingredients of corticosteroid and analgesic medications or other chemical products that may affect the health of consumers.” For now, the distributor claims to have made “adjustments in the labeling of the products.” But it’s not that simple. The last word belongs to Invima.
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