Prevalence of regulated plants in plant food supplements aiming for weight loss from the belgian market

The popularity of plant-based food supplements has risen all across the globe, supported by the assumption that anything natural is safe. However, these supplements usually consist of various plant mixtures, posing a problem for the detection of undeclared regulated plants. A combination of mass spectrometry (MS) and chemometrics is applied in this paper to provide an overview of the presence of regulated plants in plant food supplements across the illegal and legal markets in Belgium. Regulated plants, i.e. <i>Aristolochia fangchi, Ilex paraguariensis, Garcinia cambogia,</i> and <i>Hoodia gordonii,</i> which are popular for weight loss applications, were evaluated. After generating fingerprints and applying chemometric techniques, the dominating presence was found of two plants (<i>Ilex paraguariensis</i> and <i>Garcinia cambogia)</i> in both the illegal and legal markets. The prohibited plant, <i>Aristolochia fangchi,</i> could also be detected in some samples. This raises a matter of concern and necessitates stricter control regarding plant food supplements entering the Belgian market and sheds light on its importance for consumer's health.