{"id":356190,"date":"2025-12-18T14:49:08","date_gmt":"2025-12-18T14:49:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/356190\/"},"modified":"2025-12-18T14:49:08","modified_gmt":"2025-12-18T14:49:08","slug":"illegal-injectable-vitamins-sold-on-etsy-putting-peoples-health-at-risk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/356190\/","title":{"rendered":"Illegal injectable vitamins sold on Etsy \u2018putting people\u2019s health at risk\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

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An investigation<\/a> has uncovered the illegal sale of injectable vitamins<\/a> on Etsy<\/a>, with one vendor reportedly surprising buyers by including loose erectile dysfunction pills in their parcels.<\/p>\n

The consumer choice organisation Which? revealed that numerous listings featured generic, AI-generated packaging, bearing product names such as “Vitamin C 10 x 5ml” or “Multivitamin infusion 10 x 10ml”. <\/p>\n

Crucially, many of these products lacked essential legal nutritional information, including an ingredients list, the quantity of active ingredients, and vital dosage warnings.<\/p>\n

Which? staff purchased four products from two different sellers and noted that Etsy<\/a>, an e-commerce platform known for handmade and vintage items, failed to intervene in these transactions. <\/a><\/p>\n

Both shops have since been closed down. Which? confirmed it has reported the sellers to both Etsy and the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).<\/p>\n

Sue Davies, head of consumer policy at Which?, said: \u201cThe dangerous lack of oversight on Etsy is putting people\u2019s health<\/a> at risk and allowing injectable vitamins<\/a> to be sold illegally.<\/p>\n

\u201cBuying these items is risky as they could be counterfeit or even if they are genuine, shouldn\u2019t be used without medical oversight.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Government and regulators need to crack down on these illegal listings and ensure that any sellers who break the law are properly held to account so they cannot continue to put people\u2019s health<\/a> at risk.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Which?<\/p>\n

open image in gallery<\/p>\n

Which? staff ordered four products from two sellers and said Etsy \u2013 an e-commerce company specialising in handmade and vintage goods \u2013 did not intervene in the purchases (Associated Press)<\/p>\n

Investigators bought injectable vitamin C, vitamin D3 and multivitamins from seller MummyWorldTreasures in October 2025.<\/p>\n

Vials of the latter two solutions arrived in boxes that said \u201cnot to be sold by retail without the prescription of a Registered Medical Practitioner\u201d, they reported.<\/p>\n

The vitamin C bottles said the dosage should be set by a physician, according to Which?.<\/p>\n

Three loose, unnamed pills also came with the MummyWorldTreasures order, as well as a note saying it also sells \u201c100mg \u2018Blue\u2019 Tablet \u2013 Famous diamond-shaped\u201d and \u201c80mg Yellow Tablet \u2013 Slim, elongated oval\u201d, Which? added.<\/p>\n

When asked what the received pills are, MummyWorldTreasures responded: \u201cFree sample of Men\u2019s enhancement supplement to help with blood flow and stamina. Sorry I didn\u2019t realise it was addressed to a female. Apologies.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lab tests revealed both pills contained an active ingredient use in erectile dysfunction medications: the blue had sildenafil and the yellow included tadalafil.<\/p>\n

It is illegal to sell either substance without a prescription or a pharmacist\u2019s supervision.<\/p>\n

The multivitamin box had also leaked, Which? said, meaning the contents of at least one vial had been exposed to air and contaminants.<\/p>\n

\"It<\/p>\n

open image in gallery<\/p>\n

It is illegal to sell either substance without a prescription or a pharmacist\u2019s supervision (Getty\/iStock)<\/p>\n

It added: \u201cThe packaging said the products came from India and Spain, which means they are not authorised for sale in the UK.<\/p>\n

\u201cEither these items are real and illegally imported and sold, or, like some other items Which? has previously found on online marketplaces, they are counterfeit and therefore illegal to sell.\u201d<\/p>\n

The team also ordered vials labelled as vitamin B12 from seller LuminaSkin.<\/p>\n

They arrived in a box with only Spanish instructions, including a prescription drug warning in bold capitals that said: \u201cMEDICAMENTO SUJETO A PRESCRIPCION MEDICA\u201d.<\/p>\n

Many UK buyers would not be able to translate the phrase, Which? said.<\/p>\n

However, investigators found injectable vitamin B12 listings have since appeared on the shopping site.<\/p>\n

It added: \u201cThis shows just how easily these listings are slipping through the net online. Even when they are caught and removed, another listing pops up in its place just days later.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is extremely worrying that sellers are not being stopped from selling products that are clearly illegal.\u201d<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for Etsy said: \u201cMedical drugs, medical devices, and any other items that claim to treat, prevent, mitigate, cure or diagnose a disease or medical condition are prohibited on Etsy.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe listings flagged by Which? are no longer available on our marketplace, and our team is actively monitoring for any injectable supplements that violate this policy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile an MHRA spokesperson said: \u201cThe MHRA continues to work closely with major online marketplaces to prevent illegal medicines being offered for sale, and we welcome any action taken to remove unlawful online listings.\u201d<\/p>\n

MummyWorldTreasures did not respond to Which?\u2019s request for comment and the company said it could not contact LuminaSkin because the store has been closed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":356191,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[61],"tags":[97,269],"class_list":{"0":"post-356190","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nutrition","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-nutrition"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/356190","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=356190"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/356190\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/356191"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=356190"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=356190"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=356190"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}