FDA Warns Against ‘Stiff Bull’ Coffee with Viagra-Like Ingredient

FDA photo.

Nothing kills the mood quite like a public health safety warning.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has issued an advisory regarding the consumption of not-so-delicately named Stiff Bull Herbal Coffee, a roasted coffee product containing an ingredient similar to the active ingredient in the erectile disfunction drug Viagra.

The FDA said it examined the coffee product through international mail shipments, finding desmethyl carbodenafil, an erectile disfunction alternative to the popular prescription drug sildenafil. Desmethyl carbodenafil is a chemical compound and unlisted ingredient that the FDA recently advised consumers not to use for the purpose of sexual enhancement.

This section of the FDA advisory regarding the Stiff Bull coffee reads a bit like a Viagra commercial. (Go ahead, picture a smiling, grey-haired man driving along a coast in a vintage rag-top or golfing with his buddies as you read this as a voiceover:)

This undeclared ingredient may interact with nitrates found in some prescription drugs such as nitroglycerin and may lower blood pressure to dangerous levels. Men with diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or heart disease often take nitrates.

Stiff Bull, a company registered in Maryland that has distributors in nine states, according to the company’s website, says its coffee is augmented by a proprietary blend of tongkat ali, maca root, and guarana. The company’s slogan is “made for adults who want to maintain relationships.”

The FDA said the warning was part of a larger effort to educate consumers about the growing trend of dietary supplements or other food promoted as beneficial to sexual performance or health, despite the fact that they may contain “potentially harmful hidden ingredients.”