Most of the so-called supplements for sexual enhancement or slimming sold on overseas websites for Japanese consumers contain medical substances that may damage the user's health, according to tests performed in a recent study by the health ministry.
The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry said that although no actual damage to buyers' health has been reported so far, it is warning of possible risks from such products the quality and safety of which have not been confirmed by Japanese authorities or, probably, those of the countries where they are produced.
The ministry has been requesting that the operators of the websites delete listings for various items from their product inventories, while calling on people who have already bought them to stop taking them immediately.