Research Progress on Illegal Addition of Drugs in Anti-fatigue Health Foods

With the improvement of living standards and an increasing awareness of personal health, the demand for health foods has surged. Consequently, the market has expanded continuously, presenting numerous regulatory challenges for the relevant authorities. The illegal addition of drugs in health foods poses a significant threat to consumer health and impedes the sustainable development of the health foods industry. Therefore, it is imperative to establish comprehensive methods for detecting these unlawful substances in health foods and to develop robust regulatory systems. Among these, health foods that claim to relieve physical fatigue are particularly vulnerable to such illegal adulterations, which primarily fall into two categories. The first is often marketed with alleged aphrodisiac or sexual enhancement benefits, while the second claims to improve cognitive function. Many unscrupulous vendors illegally add phosphodiesterase 5 inhibitors (PDE5i) or synthetic nootropics to enhance these claimed benefits. This paper provides a summary of the types, hazards, and prevalence of illicit drug additives in health foods designed for aphrodisiac or cognitive improvement, and gives an overview of the latest advancements in detection methodologies, including high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS), spectroscopy, immunoassays, and electrochemical analysis. The primary methods for detecting illegal drug additives in aphrodisiac health foods include HPLC, LC-MS, spectroscopy, mass spectrometry (MS), immunoassay, and electrochemical analysis. For brain-tonifying health foods, the main detection methods are HPLC and LC-MS. Finally, this article explores the future of detecting illicit drug additives in health foods from the perspectives of standardizing preprocessing methods, expanding the application of portable instruments, employing various techniques for non-targeted screening, and utilizing artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies. The intent of this paper is to offer valuable insights and reference for law enforcement and regulatory agencies in the pursuit of monitoring and ensuring the safety of these health foods.