Novel nitric oxide enhancer: Big in the states, banned in the EU
Poland detained a shipment of supplements containing agmatine sulphate, with raw material from China.
The ingredient is sold by the likes of Bodybuilding.com in the US – but not in the EU – as a nitric oxide enhancer.
The company described the product as “one of the newest and most promising compounds to hit the sports nutrition industry since the release of creatine”.
According to the EU’s novel food catalogue, a member state was asked about the status of this product and it was concluded there was no evidence of its consumption as a food or ingredient before 15 May 1997 meaning it would need to have novel food approval before being sold in the EU.
The catalogue defined it as a “decarboxylation product of the amino acid arginine and is an intermediate in polyamine biosynthesis. It is considered a neurotransmitter; agmatine inhibits or inactivates nitric oxide synthase (NOS), and induces the release of some peptide hormones”.
The investigation involved 21 other countries who were set to receive the supplement: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Macao, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Ukraine and the UK.
