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Don't Drink Carelessly! Weight Loss Coffee Faces Frequent Issues, Yet Remains a Bestseller on Social Media?

Published: 2026-01-27 Author: FrontStreet Coffee

Last Updated: 2026/01/27, Today's food products rarely fail to sell well when associated with weight loss. Since specialty coffee culture gained popularity, numerous research studies and online articles have suggested that drinking coffee can aid in weight loss, but only under specific conditions: black coffee without sugar or milk, combined with proper eating habits and suitable exercise routines.

Today's food products, as long as they are associated with weight loss, rarely have poor sales. Since the rise of specialty coffee culture, many research papers and online articles have claimed that drinking coffee can help with weight loss, but the prerequisite is black coffee without sugar and milk, combined with reasonable eating habits and appropriate exercise.

For many young people, eating a little less is easy, but avoiding sweet things and exercising requires more willpower than they can muster. Consequently, some unscrupulous individuals have seized on this, openly selling "weight loss coffee" that promises "no exercise needed," "no dieting required," and "no injections or medication," claiming that drinking just one cup daily for 30 days can help you lose over ten pounds.

The product packaging contains no ingredient information or production details, nor any Chinese labels, yet it circulates actively across various WeChat business朋友圈 and Xiaohongshu platforms. After all, the promise of losing weight while lying down without any exercise is incredibly tempting!

At the same time, the products are cheap to purchase with no restrictions, so many weight loss enthusiasts seeking quick results immediately buy them. Although "consumers" online claim such weight loss coffee is truly effective, sharing their month-long experience and results while continuing to eat normally and not exercising.

However, more commonly, after drinking the weight loss coffee, people experience side effects such as thirst, nausea, vomiting, and heart palpitations, while the "sellers" uniformly respond that these are normal reactions. In this way, these unscrupulous operators "without suspicion" gain the trust of wave after wave of people wanting to lose weight, until finally, serious health consequences occur!

The Dangerous Discovery

On November 13th last year, the Jiangsu Anti-Drug WeChat official account published an article titled "'Thirst, nausea, heart palpitations!' This weight loss coffee is toxic—have you seen it in your朋友圈?" The article introduced an instant coffee containing prohibited drug ingredients, sharing a case of a girl from Cixi, Zhejiang Province, who after a friend's recommendation purchased 10 bags of "Starry Sky Weight Loss Coffee" from an online shopping platform. After consumption, she experienced decreased appetite, dry mouth, dizziness, nausea, general weakness, insomnia, increased heart rate, and elevated blood pressure. After being frightened enough to seek medical attention, hospital tests revealed that the "weight loss coffee" product contained sibutramine.

Sibutramine: The Dangerous Substance

Sibutramine is a prohibited drug. Sibutramine works by suppressing the appetite center in the brain, enhancing the feeling of fullness in the stomach and reducing appetite. Sibutramine was previously used as an auxiliary treatment for obesity, but its side effects are significant, causing increased heart rate and elevated blood pressure, which in severe cases can lead to stroke or even death. In October 2010, the State Food and Drug Administration issued a notice to stop the production, sale, and use of sibutramine preparations and raw materials in China.

Subsequently, following police investigations, it was discovered that victims of the "weight loss coffee" were scattered across the country. These products labeled as "authentic Korean" "weight loss coffee" were actually produced in Jilin, Jiangsu, Hunan, and other locations, with all products originating from eight criminal suspects including Luo, Li, Lü, Xu, and Gu. After completing "production," they sold the products to multiple sub-dealers through WeChat.

Among them, Lü, the primary producer, mixed 50 grams of sibutramine with 1 kilogram of coffee powder, stirred the mixture, and finally packaged it. He even used similar methods to produce weight loss candy. Xu and Gu, after purchasing products from other suspects, repackaged them and sold them as "bulletproof coffee." These criminal suspects were gradually arrested in December 2021, and courts in relevant regions have recently sentenced them.

Legal Consequences

In January of this year, the Xiangcheng District Procuratorate filed criminal and civil public interest lawsuits against Xu and Gu for the crime of producing and selling toxic and harmful food. The lawsuits requested that the two defendants publicly apologize to society in national media, issue consumer warnings, clearly recall the sold "bulletproof coffee," bear compensation for consumer losses, and pay punitive damages of over 140,000 yuan—ten times their illegal gains. The local court supported the procuratorate's requests and made the above judgments according to law.

Recently, Ningxiang Court, considering the criminal facts, sentencing circumstances, attitude toward guilt, and remorse shown by defendant Li, sentenced him to seven months in prison and a fine of 10,000 yuan for the crime of selling toxic and harmful food. The 4,578 yuan of illegal gains that defendant Li had turned over to Ningxiang Court were confiscated according to law and transferred to the state treasury.

Ongoing Risks and Consumer Advice

Although these criminals who mixed sibutramine into coffee have been arrested, many weight loss coffee products continue to be sold secretly on the market. These weight loss coffees typically lack production information, Chinese labels, and other identifiers, and are promoted as popular consumer products in Thailand and South Korea. In particular, as bulletproof coffee has become very popular among health-conscious consumers in recent years, many unscrupulous individuals are using the bulletproof coffee name to sell coffee containing prohibited drugs.

As consumers, we must be cautious about any products claiming "miraculous effects" or "weight loss" benefits, as there may be hidden dangers. We must not be greedy for things that promise results without effort! If you truly want to lose weight and slim down, effort is required! Daily dietary control, regular routines, and reasonable exercise can achieve certain regulatory effects. If you really need to use medication for control and adjustment, you must choose a regular hospital and follow a doctor's arrangements to ensure medication safety. Never listen to the nonsense from WeChat businesses, or risk transforming the desire to "lose weight" into the need to "preserve your life."

No market! No trading!!!

Safe Alternatives for Weight Loss

For friends who really want to try losing weight through coffee, why not try drinking a cup of black coffee without sugar, milk, or additives before exercise? Last January, research from the Department of Physiology at the University of Granada showed that consuming caffeine 30 minutes before exercise can significantly increase the rate of fat oxidation during exercise!

Only through diligent work can one enjoy the joy of harvest when the final season arrives. Grabbing a cup of Americano and heading to the gym to lift weights can both strengthen your body and help you make friends. Why not give it a try? Perhaps through coffee, you'll meet someone who truly understands you—just thinking about it brings joy!