Hi! I am a French female student and when I came by this article I was just shocked by it because a lot of people mostly girls, are influenced by the magazines, TV, and people’s look on them which obliges them to take medecine or even like in this case; herbal remedies.
I just wanted to say that if you know someone who actually takes this kind of remedies to slim down because they find themselves too fat or chubby tell them about this article.
Remember, cannabis and tobacco are natural products (plants) but everyone knows the bad effects they produce on our body!!!!!!!!!!!!
EVERYTHING LABELED AS HERBAL OR NATURAL ISN’T EVERYTIME BENEFIC FOR OUR HEALTH!!!

Mythily I am an American Real Estate Professional and I believe if I were French I would have to say “Je suis d’accord.” You are absolutely right! People today are fooled by the promise of ‘natural’, ‘herbal’ supplements in a cool, chic bottle that makes them feel “tres chouette” when they drink them. Many of them are loaded with sugar and caffeine, also guarana. This has totally overtaken America in many different ways. People flood to ‘Organic’ food markets to buy ‘Organic’ vegetables and ‘Free Range’ eggs. There is some merit to this stuff, but for the most part it’s complete crap! “Free Range” chickens means that they get to be free of their cages for 15 minutes each day, not quite the image you get when you hear the phrase. People are totally duped by this, and they are also totally naive to the fact that marketing executives are making millions off of their stupidity. You also have a great point in that things such as Tobacco and Cannabis are ‘herbal’ in nature. I would actually have taken it a step further and suggested such plants as Erythroxylum coca, which is used to produce Cocaine Hydrochloride, or the Papaver somniferum “Opium Poppy” which is used to create Heroin. These substances kill millions every year. Perhaps in the vale of chic these ‘energy concoctions’ are a silent killer.

this is a real problem. In the USA we allow television ads promoting herbal cures. they should

be regulated before we have massive injurious results

They’ll won’t be doin that again!

To quote the famous Jonestown guy…..” Shutup and drink your herbal tea”……or was it Kool-Aide?

What about the recently released reports about the more than 100,000 people who die each year from prescription medications…misprescribed medications not included. Why is this travesty never talked about?

And the U.S. is allowing imports from so many 3rd world countries, like Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand…and China??!!?? Almost 100 people died in Panama from ‘toothpase’ imported from China.
What’s sad is that all the regulations and laws that the U.S. has worked hard to establish for so many years…is basically out the window now that they are accepting imports from these toilet countries that have NO real regulations. It’s the most absurd thing EVER. How about all the produce coming in from Mexico and South America. Is DDT banned there? I bet not. I NEVER hear anyone talking about this. Don’t Buy Import!!! It not can kill you, or your pet, but it’s undermining this ONCE great country. No wonder welfare is at an all time high…we have no industry!!! PRAY that China, Japan, and everyone else WE owe money to, don’t ask for the loan pay-up. Talk about NO Economy! If you don’t know–you better read up and find out what we are borrowing EACH and EVERY day form other countries…it’s totally scary!

Wow, are any of these products imported to the US? Or available outside of Indonesia? I would hate to think that the “remedy” was purposely tainted.

It’s really sad story and I hope the investigation get done soon and whoever created this happen should bring to justice and get funish put them in jail. I was talking with my bf and he mentioned about story few people died in Indonesia. I was like well everywhere people are dying and borning after he sent me the link and read the story just sad. I love you all.. (Julie-Washington)

BEER, the ultimate in Herbal Remedies!!!!!!!

I wont buy anything from china if i can help it, and trust its hard
i dont know if they purposely make inferior products or they are trying to knock us off one by one
its time for america to wake up!

There’s all sorts of funny stuff for sale in Indonesia. This particular brew is probably a local product for local consumption as Jambi is a relatively small city, some distance from more populated Sumatran cities such as Palembang and Medan. I worked in Jambi province for a number of years back in the 80s. I’ve seen some of these products.

it really makes you want to think twice about drinking something publicly named as an herbal remedy. who knows what’s in it?

bleh. people that are falling for this “herbal remedies work wonders” stereotype are most likely uneducated. im a 13 year old girl and i know better than to fall for a gimmick (sp?) such as the one portrayed here. if it doesn’t have a nutritional label on it stating precisely what ingredients are in it, it probably isn’t safe to ingest! people, get a hold of yourselves. if you are so desperate to lose weight with “the magic pill”, it just means that you are too lazy to get off your bum and exersise! losing weight takes time and patience!

the news reports shld have written the whole ingredients in that “herbal remedy concoction” if the same ingredients that we have here in america. is that made in china or indonesia? what about the products we have here in america? where is it made? that’s scary, like u drink the coctail drink from the jim jones story!

Wow, that’s some thorough piece of reporting. What is the name of this herbal remedy? Is it a product that is exported? Are people able to order it over the internet? Is anyone in danger outside the nation of Indonesia?
Come on people. People are being killed taking this stuff and you don’t even name it.

There is no way that any of us can tell what is in the water we drink, the foods we eat, for that matter how safe the very air we breathe is, so… lets get on with our lives and make the most intelligent decisions when making our purchases. The air well lets hope for the best and visit the country once in a while.

I wouldn’t know what substances are constituted into the alleged “herbal remedy” product–most likely chemicals that are harmful to the body. I believe that the real issue to this incident is the misuse or unprescribed use of herbal remedies by a misinformed public. Herbal remedies may be considered safe in line with its natural ingredients but then we need to take safeguards if we choose to patronize natural treatments.

Labels can be misleading, thus we need to determine first prior to intake the manufacturer (if registered with FDA) and its track record of safety, production methods (if certain quality standards are conformed to), the ingredients (for potential drug interaction) and the expert/remedy specialist authoring the natural formula (must be . Knowledge of this info can help mitigate the potential risks. Of course, getting doctor’s or an expert’s advice prior to intake is still a wise thing to do.