Sam Rega / Business Insider
- Kratom is an opioid derived from a plant native to Southeast Asia. It can be consumed in pills, powder, or tea.
- On Tuesday, the US Food and Drug Administration issued its first mandatory recall after a Las Vegas company’s powdered kratom products were found to be contaminated with salmonella.
- The recall came on the heels of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issuing their third warning in a month that the drug, often called an “herbal supplement,” had been linked to salmonella, bringing the number of people sickened from contaminated kratom products to 87.
The Food and Drug Administration calls it a dangerous opioid, but kratom advocates call their pill of choice a life-saving supplement. Either way, it has been linked to a growing salmonella outbreak and, most recently, has spurred the FDA to issue its first mandatory recall.
Kratom is a psychoactive drug derived from the leaves of Mitragyna speciosa, a plant in the coffee family that is native to Southeast Asia. Research suggests the drug taps into some of the same brain receptors as opioids, spurring the FDA to classify it as one in February.See the rest of the story at Business Insider
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