The holiday season is almost here and I guess you are anxious to taste everything that “Santa” has prepared for you. Of course, this is a time of the year when you can’t resist temptations and so, you gain more weight that you’ve expected.

The next thing on your mind after the holidays is how you can get rid of the extra pounds. Using dietary supplements might come to the rescue, but you have to worry about another thing now, as the Food and Drug Administration warned consumers not to buy or use more than 25 products marketed for weight loss because they contain undeclared, active pharmaceutical ingredients that may be risky.

The products include Fatloss Slimming, 2 Day Diet, 3x Slimming Power, 5 x Imelda Perfect Slimming, 3 Day Diet Japan Lingzhi, 24 Hours Diet, 7 Diet Day/Night Formula, 7 Day Herbal Slim, 8 Factor Diet, 999 Fitness Essence, Extrim Plus, GMP, Imelda Perfect Slim, Lida DaiDaihua, Miaozi Slim Capsules, Perfect Slim, Perfect Slim 5x, Phyto Shape, ProSlim Plus, Royal Slimming Formula Slim 3 in 1, Slim Express 360, Slimtech, Somotrim, Superslim, TripleSlim, Zhen de Shou, Venom Hyperdrive 3.0.

“These products have not been approved by the FDA, are illegal, and may be potentially harmful to unsuspecting consumers,” the FDA said.

One of the concerns related to these products is that fact that they contain sibutramine, a chemical known to suppress the appetite, which belongs to the class of amphetamines. The substance can cause heart attacks, strokes and heart palpitations, especially in people with a history of high blood pressure or heart problems.

Another chemical found in these drugs was phenolphthalein, which was withdrawn from the market because of cancer risks.

Other chemicals found in these drugs include rimonabant, a drug not approved for marketing in the United States and phenytoin, an anti-seizure medication.

Anyone facing problems with these products can address FDA’s MedWatch Adverse Event Reporting system or file a report on the FDA’s web site or call 800-FDA-1088.