Alert issued on danger supplement

It's a miracle! Really.

Food watchdogs have issued an alert after finding that a chemical marketed online as a health supplement was similar to industrial-strength bleach.

'Miracle Mineral Supplement' is 28% sodium chlorite - which becomes bleach when mixed with citric acid.

Even taken as instructed, experts say it can cause severe vomiting and diarrhoea - and mixing it wrongly could lead to respiratory failure.

The Food Standards Agency is seeking to track down any UK-based sellers.

The supplement, which claims to have beneficial effects against a wide range of illnesses, ranging from HIV and hepatitis to H1N1 flu, has already been the subject of warnings from the Food and Drug Agency (FDA) in the US.

Now UK consumers are being urged to dispose of the supplement as soon as possible, and help the Food Standards Agency and local authorities find suppliers in this country.

It is still apparently on sale here through a number of sites, one offering a 100ml bottle for £33.

A spokesman for the Food Standards Agency said: "People should not take Miracle Mineral Supplement or Miracle Mineral Solution.

"This product is equivalent to industrial-strength bleach.

Now that is a cleanse, eh, Michellesie?