The UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is warning consumers against using a “fake tan nasal spray” marketed as Ubertan. According to the agency, the product comes in two versions, one of which contains “melanotan II, an unlicensed medicine with no evidence of safety, quality or that it works, and with unknown side effects” and another that claims to contain an extract of coleus forskohlii, which the agency says has an active ingredient that acts on the enzyme adenylate cyclase, which activates Cyclic Adenosine Monophosphate (cAMP).
The MHRA says the product is being sold illegally as a tanning agent in beauty salons, gyms, and online. It has contacted seven retailers about illegal sales of Ubertan and is providing ways for consumers to report other sellers anonymously.
MHRA Head of the Medicines Borderline Section, David Carter, advised consumers, “Putting your health on the line just in order to get a tan is just really not worth the risk. None of these products have been clinically tested and as a result there is no way of knowing just how serious the side effects could be, or the impact on your health. If you have this product at home do not use it again, throw it in the bin. And if you have used it and you have concerns then speak to your GP.”
Read the MHRA press release.
