Vitamin B15--whatever it is, it won't help
1980
Check, William A.
Vitamin B15, also known as calcium pangamate or pangamic acid, is promoted as a dietary supplement alleged to help cure everything from gangrene to glaucoma. However, vitamin B15 has never been adequately defined and assayed samples reveal a wide variety of ingredients. One substance, dimethylglycine hydrochloride, is mutagenic; a study in which it was mixed with sodium nitrite and incubated to simulate human stomach conditions revealed mutagenic chemicals capable of causing cancer. Another preparation of B15 contains diisoprophylamine-dichloroacetate, which is also mutagenic. The FDA is engaged in legal battles to ban the sale of pangamic acid, mostly for labeling fraud. It is regarded as an unsafe food additive. The FDA's greatest obstacle is the meaninglessness of the term, which enables manufacturers to reuse bottles and labels with different contents.
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