Residents of Alpine, Highland, Cedar Hills, and Lehi are being warned to destroy any Buzzers brand Cat's Claw tablets in their homes after state officials said the mislabeled herbal supplement actually contains illegal, opioid-acting kratom alkaloids linked to at least one death in Utah County.

The Utah Department of Agriculture & Food and the Utah Poison Control Center issued the joint alert Thursday, July 30, urging consumers to immediately stop using the product. The tablets, sold in multiple flavors, were labeled as cat's claw, a legitimate herbal supplement, but state testing found they contain two Schedule I kratom derivatives: mitragynine pseudoindoxyl and MGM-15.

Those compounds act on the same brain receptors as opioids. They have been identified in overdose cases in recent weeks, though officials did not release the exact number, according to Fox 13.

The death occurred in Utah County, according to KSL. Investigations into that death and several additional severe health incidents are ongoing. Officials have not released the victim's identity, age, or city of residence.

"This particular one was not labeled as kratom at all. It was labeled as a totally different product. It was only discovered because of the incident and poison control submitted the samples to us," UDAF spokesman Leon Page told the Deseret News on July 30.

Cat's claw is a woody vine supplement that does not contain psychoactive compounds. Consumers who purchased the Buzzers tablets had no way to know from the label that they were ingesting kratom alkaloids.

What residents should do

The agencies' guidance is direct: do not buy or consume any flavor of Buzzers Cat's Claw tablets, and safely destroy any product already in your home. Retailers should immediately pull the product from shelves and contact UDAF's Specialized Products Division.

Because the compounds mimic opioids, the Poison Control Center recommends administering naloxone (Narcan) in any suspected overdose involving the tablets. Anyone experiencing adverse effects can call the Utah Poison Control Center at 1-800-222-1222, available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

How this fits Utah's kratom law

Utah's SB45, sponsored by Sen. Mike McKell, R-Spanish Fork, took effect May 6 and banned the sale of all kratom products except pure-leaf kratom, which may only be sold in smoke shops and similar stores to customers 21 and older. The Buzzers tablets violate that law on multiple fronts: they contain synthetic kratom derivatives classified as Schedule I substances, and they were sold without any kratom labeling.

UDAF said it is working with retailers and law enforcement to pull the mislabeled products from shelves statewide. No timeline for a follow-up announcement has been provided.