Irish man dies after taking banned slimming pills

A young Irish man, who died mid-May, is believed to have consumed an illegal slimming product purchased online, according to media reports on Thursday.

The country's Health Products Regulatory Authority (HPRA) and police are carrying out investigations into the death of the man in his early 20s, who took a "fat burning" product that contained dinitrophenol (DNP), state broadcaster RTE reported.

Although the death occurred last month, RTE was only recently notified about the case by a health care professional and the HPRA issued a public health alert on Thursday.

The drug, a highly toxic substance marketed on the Internet as a "wonder slimming aid", has been linked to over 60 deaths worldwide, but this was the first reported case in Ireland.

DNP was the subject of an Interpol global alert in May. The drug is not approved for use anywhere in the world. The HPRA confiscated 93 capsules containing DNP this year.