Like gas station kratom, research-grade peptides have become widely available for consumers at convenience stores across the United States. Yet as one investigation into peptides sourced from a New York City bodega found, ease of access comes with a high price: your health.
In new reporting on the peptide trade, CBS took a hard look at gray market peptide products available across the US, including a knockoff of Eli Lilly’s yet-to-be-released injectable weight loss drug retatrutide, bought from a corner store in Brooklyn.
To test what’s actually in a bodega vial labeled “retatrutide,” the news outlet sent samples to Jason Galpin, a researcher of bioorganic chemistry at the University of Iowa. His analysis? “It does not look anything like a peptide,” he told CBS.
In place of any sort of peptide-like-substance — which should be made up of short chains of amino acids — Galpin discovered the vial was chock full of phenylacetic acid, a filler-compound typically used in perfume and illicit amphetamine manufacturing.
Worse yet, the vial also contained at least 13 various bacterial colonies, which director of development at the University of Iowa’s Center for Biocatalysis and Bioprocessing Carl Ross told CBS could easily cause a dangerous infection.
“As kids, we’re all taught to wash out cuts if we get cut,” Ross explained. With gray market peptides, however, users are “injecting bacteria under the skin where it could multiply. It’s pretty terrifying.”
Last month, Wired conducted a similar analysis, buying “peptides” from a bodega in Brooklyn and sending them to a lab for analysis. As with CBS, it turned out that they weren’t peptides at all; instead, they found chemical slurry that technicians couldn’t even identify.
So there you have it: if your guy at the corner deli tries to slip you some peptides to go with your chopped cheese, just say no. Your body will thank you — in more ways than one.
More on peptides: Black Market Retatrutide Linked to Multiple Deaths
