>> David: This is
 marketplace.
Natural diet supplements.
The healthy way to lose weight?
>> Just hope in a bottle.
>> One liver transplant is quite
an expensive task.
One death is even worse.
>> She was trying something new.
It shouldn't have killed her.
I would like to see it banned.
>> David: This is your
 marketplace.
♪ ♪
We're going undercover.
>> I'm looking for a weight loss
product.
>> David: To investigate a
multibillion dollar weight loss
industry.
>> This is all for weight loss.
>> David: With a growing
section of natural products that
claim to help you shrink fat
cells.
>> It boosts your metabolism.
>> David: And lose weight.
>> Really good for women under
the arms, the thighs.
>> David: But will you
actually shed the pounds and are
they safe?
♪ ♪
Our journey to find out starts
here in Cornwall, Ontario.
♪ ♪
Last April, 17-year-old Madeline
Papineau gets mysteriously ill.
>> I just woke up vomiting and
then just would not stop.
>> And this continued on
throughout the day and the next
day as well, everything she
drank came back up.
>> My back hurt so bad to the
point where I just wanted to sit
down and not do anything.
There was something wrong with
me, but I just didn't know, I
had no clue what it was.
>> David: After two trips
to her local hospital,
Madeline's mother Julie brings
her here to the children's
hospital of eastern Ontario in
Ottawa.
>> It looked like she had
evidence of an acute hepatitis.
>> David: Janice Barky is
one of Madeline's doctors.
>> Her enzymes were elevated,
quite significantly elevated.
Actually more than 60 times the
normal limit.
The question we had from the GI
perspective what was causing her
acute hepatitis.
>> What was going
through your head?
>> Honestly, it was scary.
I was really scared.
>> David: Through the process
of elimination, all the usual
suspects are ruled out.
Then, a potential clue from
Madeline's sister.
>> I got a text, ask Madeline
what these green tea triple fat
burner pills are that she found
in her drawer.
>> What was going
through your mind then?
>> I said Madeline, what is
this?
>> Do you need a powerful weight
loss solution?
>> David: Unknown to her
mother, Madeline had started
taking this.
>> green tea triple fat burner.
>> David: Promoted as a
natural weight loss pill.
>> Fight the fat today with
green tea triple fat burner.
>> David: Sold in the pharmacy
section of stores across the
country.
Why did you want to lose weight?
>> To fit in my prom dress and
feel pretty in it.
There is a lot of pressure these
days with social media and
everything, you feel like you
have to look a certain way.
And it's hard.
>> David: And it's all over
 YouTube.
>> I'd like to do a review on
these green tea fat burner
pills.
>> I bought those pills that are
supposed to be like green tea
fat burner.
>> Make sure you guys can see
them.
>> and these are supposed to
increase calorie burning, kick
start your fat burning ability.
>> I decided to start taking
these because people kept on
asking me if I was pregnant.
>> I have seen them a lot in
 Walmart as you walk through the
doors, they're like right there.
So I just decided one day to go
in and pick one up.
>> David: With Madeline still
in hospital, her mother tells
doctors about the green tea
pills.
Once you get that particular
information, what does that
prompt you to do?
>> Well, it gets us thinking,
you know, is this a possibility
for causing her liver injury?
>> David: Natural green tea
supplements causing liver
injury?
How common is that?
Our search for answers leads us
to Saint John, New Brunswick.
Another mother and daughter, but
this time it's mom who takes the
pills.
>> How much you need?
>> One cup.
>> David: Back in 2005, Lisa
McGeachy wanted to lose weight
so she goes to the drugstore and
buys this.
Green Lite weight management,
promising 10 per cent loss of
body fat in three months.
But after those three months,
Lisa starts to get sick.
So her husband Kirk takes her to
the local E.R.
>> They didn't know what was
wrong but they knew my liver was
failing.
>> This is
extraordinarily serious.
>> Yes.
Yeah.
My eyeballs were yellow.
>> David: Lisa needs a new
liver urgently.
She's medevaced here to the Q.E.
II Health Sciences Centre
in Halifax.
>> Based on my numbers, I was
number one, and Kirk said what
do we do now, and the woman said
go back and wait, and he said he
came in my room expecting me to
die.
I had four to five days to live.
>> How old was your
daughter at the time?
>> She was five.
>> I can see it going
through your mind.
>> Yeah.
Yeah, she was five.
>> David: On Lisa's medical
team is the former chair of the
Canadian Liver Foundation,
Dr. Kevork Peltekian.
You had the opportunity to look
at her liver after the
transplant.
What did you see?
>> What we saw in the liver is
significant necrosis.
That's the medical term to say
the liver cells had been damaged
and shrunken down.
>> You're nearly
certain what caused this.
>> I'll tell you what, I'm
comfortable to say in Lisa's
case, I think the green tea
extract had the major impact of
it.
We could not find anything else.
>> David: Researchers have
focused in on EGCG, the
anti-oxidant in green tea.
Drinking it has proven health
benefits but the concentrated
extract in pills could be too
much of a good thing.
When you hear green tea extract,
it sounds natural.
>> Yeah.
>> And I think many
people think natural is safe.
>> Remember, many of our drugs
originally came from herbs, too,
and some of them were toxic.
>> David: The risk of liver
injury is rare.
Peltekian estimates it to be in
the range of 1 in 100,000.
>> Although the potential is
small, it is still a potential.
And unfortunately I cannot
predict that ahead of time.
There will be hundreds of people
using these extracts.
One will get into troubles,
right, but who's that one?
>> David: After Lisa's case is
reported to Health Canada, Green
Lite is taken off the shelves.
And it doesn't stop there.
Health Canada also begins
requiring all green tea extract
products to include this
warning.
Consult a health care
practitioner if you develop
symptoms of liver trouble such
as abdominal pain, dark urine,
or jaundice.
Is a little warning like that
enough?
>> Well, no, I don't think so.
I think those -- I'm having
troubles with seeing them
myself, I need a magnifying
glass to see them.
>> David: Did you read the
warning?
>> No, I didn't.
>> You think that that
warning should be any clearer?
>> Yeah, I think it should be
right on the cover of it so
people can see it.
>> David: To update warnings
and identify unsafe products to
be removed from the market, one
of the things Health Canada uses
is this database to monitor
reported side-effects.
But we start digging, and turn
up a case that's not on that
list.
In Mulgrave, Nova Scotia.
Jocelyn, Tara and Tyler Stewart.
>> Well, there's a picture of
mom at the hospital.
>> David: In 2009, their mom
Joyce Boudreau gets gravely ill.
>> She actually at one point was
considered the sickest woman in
Canada.
>> She was put on the list on
December 16th and got the
transplant on the 18th of
December.
>> She was sick enough
that quickly.
>> Yeah.
>> That the next liver
that came up.
>> Was hers.
>> Was hers.
>> David: Doctors removed
Joyce's damaged liver.
>> One person described it as
when they took it out of her,
the old one, as like a piece of
wood.
>> David: But the transplant
doesn't take.
>> And she was too sick inside
when they were trying to sew
things together, the surgeon
said it was like sewing mashed
potatoes.
>> David: The surgery takes so
long, the new liver starts dying
before it can be completely
connected.
Joyce gets relisted and,
incredibly, five days later,
gets a second liver transplant.
>> I remember being excited when
she could lift her hand like
this, this was a wave.
Like that was exciting.
>> We thought that meant she was
getting better and coming home.
>> Yeah.
>> David: But that doesn't
happen.
So weakened after the second
transplant, an infection kills
Joyce.
Her doctor and family believe
her liver failure was due, at
least in part, to a reaction to
the green tea extract pills she
had been taking.
>> She took the initiative and
decided to use these pills as a
way to help herself and it
killed her.
>> She had exercised.
She had walked.
She had done a lot.
She was trying something new.
It shouldn't have killed her.
>> It says green tea extract,
most of us link that to healthy.
Everybody buys green tea,
you can buy it anywhere.
>> What does it mean to
you guys that the pill you
connect to your mother's death
is still on the shelves across
this country?
>> It makes me sick.
Makes me sick because somebody
else could go through the same
thing, and it's not necessary.
>> I just feel like they're
manipulating people when you see
green tea and you see fat
burner, you're going to buy it,
it's 20 bucks, you're going to
take it home.
A kid's going to buy it.
>> David: A kid like
17-year-old Madeline.
After spending 11 days in
hospital, she's finally
released, able to attend her
prom.
>> It's so pretty, the colour.
>> David: But her case becomes
a crusade for mom Julie.
She contacts Health Canada,
demanding action.
In response, the government
publishes Madeline's case in its
monthly bulletin, outlining the
potential risk of liver injury
from green tea supplements.
>> This is a documented case of
someone being seriously ill from
this product and the product was
named.
The supplement goes to health
care practitioners.
It's now out there so, for me,
that's progress in all of this.
>> David: So is Health
Canada's message really getting
out there?
We ask Madeline and her sister
Allison to return to the store
where she bought the pills.
>> Right there, green tea fat
burner right there.
>> Is that what you took?
>> More to it.
>> David: Putting Health
Canada to the test.
>> Shocking.
>> Devastating.
>> David: Only on your
 marketplace.
How do you fact check diet
claims?
Get some tips at
facebook.com/cbcmarketplace.
♪ ♪
>> David: The real skinny on
diets.
Madeline Papineau spent 11 days
in hospital, nearly lost her
liver after taking green tea
triple fat burner that she
bought here.
>> Right there.
Green tea fat burner right
there.
>> David: Six months later,
Health Canada uses Madeline's
case to highlight that potential
risk.
It's called a health product
InfoWatch.
So how effective was that at
getting the attention of
pharmacies?
>> I have a question about this.
>> Okay.
>> Do you know if it works?
Do you know if they're safe?
>> Pharmacist said yes.
>> So they work?
>> He said they're safe.
>> David: Madeline pays for
the green tea fat burner and
walks away.
No one warning her of the
potential risk to her liver,
assuring her it's safe.
We show the footage to
Madeline's mom Julie.
>> So they didn't even refer to
the warning on the label?
>> No, they didn't even look at
it.
Nope.
>> That's shocking.
>> That's devastating.
>> David: With the message not
getting through, Julie has one
of her own for Health Canada.
>> What are you going to do now,
even the pharmacists aren't
reading it and warning people,
so, number one, the advisory on
the box is not effective.
And their InfoWatch is not being
read.
>> David: We have questions
for Health Canada, too.
We've been asking for an
on-camera interview.
They say no one's available.
But we're going to keep trying.
Meanwhile, we go under cover at
other pharmacy chains asking
about green tea triple fat
burner.
>> Is it safe?
>> It should be, they are
actually okay, they're
tolerable.
>> Are you taking any other
medicines?
No.
It's okay, yes.
>> Is it safe?
>> Yep.
>> David: Some are more
cautious.
>> You're not really
overweight --
>> A few pounds, just a few
pounds.
>> Try, but see your own
reaction.
>> Is it safe?
>> They don't have a study so
they don't have really a lot
of --
>> Thank you.
>> David: But Health Canada's
warning about possible liver
injury doesn't seem to be
getting through.
♪ ♪
A warning that wasn't yet
required on this bottle of Green
Lite when Lisa McGeachy bought
it at a pharmacy in Saint John.
Hoping to lose weight, she
instead lost her liver.
And Lisa's no ordinary customer.
What do you do for a living?
>> I'm a pharmacist.
Way back in 2005, there was no
information available at all.
And I would have found the
information if it was available.
>> David: We tell Lisa about
the more recent case of
Madeline.
She actually went back to the
store she bought this product
in, went to the pharmacy counter
and said, is this safe?
And they said, yeah.
>> She didn't ask me.
>> But I'm surprised
that a young woman who's
experience prompted an alert,
that young woman was able to go
and buy the same product that's
connected to her problem.
>> The product wasn't pulled off
the market.
That's the only time we would
get an upfront in your face
alert.
>> Have you seen that
InfoWatch I'm talking about?
>> No.
I've got eight to 12 feet of
weight loss products out there.
>> What do you think
about a product that changed
your life being feet away from
you when you're working?
>> I can't dictate the products
that are carried in my store.
>> Doesn't necessarily
mean you're comfortable with it,
though.
>> I'm definitely not
comfortable with it and if
anybody asks me for one, I never
recommend them, but that doesn't
mean they don't sell because
people don't ask.
They come and buy.
It says on the package, it must
be true.
>> David: Health Canada is
saying they are safe and
effective.
Should they be doing that?
This is your marketplace.
get marketplace in your in-box
once a week, sign up for our
newsletter at
cbc.ca/marketplace.
>> David: The real deal on
your marketplace.
Canadians are spending millions
on natural weight loss
supplements like green tea
extract.
We're learning it can have
dangerous, even life-threatening
side-effects.
But do they actually work?
Dr. Sean Wharton is a leading
researcher in weight management
at hospitals in Toronto and
Hamilton, Ontario.
>> Terrific, you got a great
blood pressure.
>> David: We ask him about all
those popular green tea extract
supplements.
Why are there so many?
>> Because weight management's
really hard.
It's really hard to lose weight,
to stay motivated.
If something is really difficult
and we don't have terrific
treatment for them, then the
pharmacies and other places will
be filled with these fake
medications to try to give
people fake hope.
>> Are they ever effective?
>> They're never effective.
From everyone in the scientific
field, we know that these
natural diet pills are not
effective.
They're essentially placebo
medication and the only thing
that gets the weight down is
your actual willpower, really
just hope in a bottle.
>> It doesn't work.
>> It doesn't work.
>> Ever.
>> Ever.
>> David: So how is it that
Health Canada allows all these
green tea supplements to make
weight loss claims?
Turns out Health Canada reviewed
green tea extract and determined
they can help in weight
management.
They came to that conclusion by
looking at these four studies,
but, you know, this one just
looked at ten men over the
course of a day.
That seemed odd, so we asked an
epidemiologist at McMaster
University to review these
studies.
And he found important
limitations making it impossible
to conclude that green tea
extract reduces weight.
Health Canada has licenced these
products, these products make
claims about weight management.
And Health Canada is saying they
are safe and effective.
Should they be doing that?
>> As a natural product, they
have different rules than they
would for a prescription product
and they don't have to be as
stringent in terms of having a
big clinical trial where there
are thousands of patients.
Half of them on placebo, half of
them on the medication and we're
actually able to see which
decreases weight and keeps that
weight off longer.
To me, that's a real clinical
trial.
>> They're not being
judged to the same standard that
pharmaceuticals are?
>> Exactly, and they actually
should be.
>> The product that you
and the doctors connect to your
mother's death doesn't actually
work for losing weight.
>> I don't even know how to
vocalize how that makes me feel.
I feel a little stunned by that
green tea extract is proving
more and more to hurt people,
kill people, and that it also
has no proven benefits to help
you lose weight.
>> You imagine if that
17-year-old girl had died from
it.
Her mother, 17 years old, and
for nothing.
It wasn't going to help her.
>> I would like to see it
banned, that's -- as the mother,
I would like it to go away and
not be profitable.
For me, I want it off the
shelves.
>> It's a risk/benefit ratio
that I'm looking at and in the
green tea extract, I don't see
it.
I see only the bad thing and
when the bad thing happens, it's
really bad.
>> David: Dr. Kevork Peltekian
is on the board of directors of
the Canadian Liver Foundation.
So if there is no evidence that
green tea extract actually works
for weight loss but there are
risks, should this even be on
the shelves?
>> Well, I mean, I tell you
what, in my book, I don't see a
reason for it to be on the
shelf.
So somebody has to look at this
seriously and come up with
regulations that says this is
what needs to be done.
>> Who is that someone?
>> Well, I tell you what, in
this country, it's Health
Canada.
>> Health Canada has
declined our repeated request
for an on-camera interview, but
we have learned they are
conducting a safety review of
liver injury associated with all
green tea extract products.
While we wait for those results,
will it happen again?
>> I think it's just a matter of
time.
It could be happening now and
someone's not connecting the
dots that they're sick because
of this product.
That they are assuming is
natural.
It's like you're being told
something's safe but it could be
extremely dangerous.
>> David: Back in Mulgrave,
Nova Scotia, Jocelyn Stewart is
remembering her mother.
>> She was giving.
She worked a lot in the
community volunteering for all
kinds of organizations.
>> These are for you, mom.
>> She was just that type of
person that would wave to
everybody, would say hello to
everybody.
Went out of her way to make
people feel special.
>> What's that mean to you?
>> It means my mother died.
It means get them off the shelf
and if you have them in your
house, please take them back to
the pharmacy to dispose of them
properly.
♪ [sombre]
>> In the weeks ahead, we'll
have this story...
looks like chicken, tastes like
chicken, but how much of it is
really chicken?
>> they have restructured it and
kind of reformed it.
>> marketplace fires up the
grill.
>> When I make chicken at home,
I don't use anywhere near the
number of ingredients.
Putting your favourite
grilled chicken sandwich to the
test.
>> They all include non-meat
ingredients.
>> And next week on
 marketplace, student
vacations.
Are they a trip into trouble?
Sold as safe and supervised.
>> Kids are drinking and there
is no supervision.
Things will escalate.
>> What if he encourages friends
to go on the trip and that
friend was the kid that got
hurt?
>> We follow hundreds of
Canadian teenagers to Cuba to
see if it's worth the money
and the worry.
♪ ♪
