HEALTH : FDA Bans Purported Aphrodisiacs

The Food and Drug Administration said today that a series of products sold as aphrodisiacs did nothing to help sexual desire or performance and banned them from the U.S. market.

The ingredients claimed to be aphrodisiacs and affected by the agency ban include cantharides, also known as “Spanish fly,” a chemical derived from the dried bodies of beetles; zinc, a metal; estrogens, a female hormone; strychnine, a poisonous white powder, and yohimbine, a poison obtained from the bark of a West African tree.

Other ingredients claimed to arouse sexual desire or improve performance that fall under the FDA ban are fennel, mandrake and ginseng, which are plants, the agency said.

The ban will take effect Jan. 8, 1990. The FDA said relatively few of these products are now being marketed.