Lawsuit against dendrobium-containing supplement dismissed

11-Feb-2013 - Last updated on 11-Feb-2013 at 14:12 GMT

Driven Sports, maker of the preworkout supplement Craze, announced that a class action lawsuit against the product has been dismissed.

According to a statement by the company, the class-action lawsuit, filed by Newport Trial group, alleged that Craze contained amphetamines. Driven Sports said, “Craze does not, has not, and never will contain amphetamines, nor any other banned or controlled substance. The lawsuit dismissal is a great vindication for the Craze product and the Driven Sports brand.”

The company said the suit was dismissed after it was able to obtain a copy of the lab report submitted by the trial group. According to Driven Sports, that test confirmed that the product did not contain amphetamines.

Another allegation in the lawsuit pertains to some of the ingredients in Craze. The suit said that the supplement contains contains new dietary ingredients that have not been the subject of a NDI notification, namely Dendrobex (Dendrobium Extract, Stem - orchid) nor Citramine (Citrus Reticulata Extract, Fruit).

Were both ingredients were on the market prior to 1994? “That’s our belief,” Matt Cahill, VP of operations for Driven Sports, told NutraIngredients-USA last year when the lawsuit was filed.

‘Grandfathered’?

According to American Herbal Products Association (AHPA) composite list of old dietary ingredients (ODIs), both Dendrobium nobile Lindl. and Dendrobium officinale are old dietary ingredients.

However, the real question is whether or not all of the individual compounds listed in the Dendrobex are in fact found in Dendrobium. Dendrobium has come to be seen as a stand-in for the new-discredited DMAA. According to the label, the Dendrobex ingredient contains “concentrated for alkaloid content including Dendrobine, Dendroxine, Dendramine, B-Phenylethylamine, N,N-Dimethyl-B-Phenylethylamine, and N,N-Diethyl-B-Phenylethylamine.”

All of these ingredients have stimulant properties. Craze, a powdered product meant to be mixed into a beverage, also contains caffeine and has warnings on the label to not exceed a daily dosage of 2-scoops.

The lengthy list of chemicals attributed to Dendrobex has given some industry observers pause. James Neal-Kababick, director of Flora Research Laboratories, has done extensive research on dendrobium.

Kababick said he could not comment on Dendrobex directly, but he did say that he has yet to find any phenylethylamines that are native to dendrobium.

Driven Sports stands by the ingredients in the product. According to a statement by the company, Craze has been the subject of four human clinical trials with a fifth underway. “Driven Sports is eager to publish the results of these studies in the very near future,” the company said. In addition, the company said that formula was reviewed by an independent toxicologist and by “our on-staff board certified endocrinologist prior to release.”