Lemon Bottle (Cosmetic Lipolysis Solution)

“Lemon Bottle” is the trade name of a yellow aqueous solution produced by the South Korean company SID Medicos and sold in 10 mL ampoules. According to the manufacturer’s own marketing and the ingredient claims quoted by regulators, it contains riboflavin (vitamin B2), bromelain (a cysteine-protease extract of pineapple stem) and lecithin (a phosphatidylcholine-rich phospholipid mixture), together with unspecified plant extracts [1]. It is registered in Korea as a cosmetic, not a medicine. Outside Korea it has been promoted on social media since 2023 as an injectable “fat-dissolving” product. It is supplied on this site strictly as a laboratory reference material for analytical characterisation, and this page is written to set out its regulatory and evidential status plainly.

Regulatory status

Lemon Bottle is not an approved or licensed drug in any jurisdiction. In March 2025 the US Food and Drug Administration issued warning letters to online sellers, including Fox Pharma LLC, stating that “LemonBottle Ampoule Solution” and similar injectable lipolytic products are unapproved new drugs under sections 505(a) and 301(d) of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, are “not generally recognized as safe and effective”, and that no approved application is in effect for them [1]. The FDA’s standing consumer notice on unapproved fat-dissolving injections describes reports of permanent scars, serious infections, skin deformities, cysts and deep painful nodules, notes that some consumers bought such products online and self-injected, and states that deoxycholic acid (Kybella) is the only injectable approved for fat reduction, and only under the chin [2]. In the United Kingdom, the General Pharmaceutical Council wrote to all registered pharmacists and pharmacy owners in April 2025 naming Lemon Bottle as a “non-medicinal, unregulated, unlicensed” product that has potentially caused serious harm and setting out the responsibilities of anyone considering supplying it [3]. It carries no MHRA marketing authorisation and no CE/UKCA mark as a device.

What is known about the components

• Riboflavin is an essential vitamin and the precursor of the flavin cofactors FMN and FAD; it is intensely yellow and photodegrades in light. Its nutritional biochemistry is reviewed by Powers [7]; no published work describes a lipolytic action.
• Bromelain is a mixture of proteolytic enzymes from pineapple; the literature reviewed by Pavan and colleagues concerns oral use for oedema and inflammation and in-vitro proteolytic and fibrinolytic activity [6]. There are no data on subcutaneous injection into adipose tissue.
• Lecithin / phosphatidylcholine was the original ingredient of “injection lipolysis” formulations in the early 2000s. Rotunda and colleagues showed in 2004 that the fat-cell lysis attributed to those formulations was actually a detergent effect of the sodium deoxycholate used as solubiliser, not of phosphatidylcholine itself [4]. A 2018 systematic review of phosphatidylcholine–deoxycholate injection lipolysis found only small, mostly uncontrolled studies and highlighted the absence of standardised formulations [5].

The evidence base for the product itself

A search of Europe PMC and PubMed in September 2026 returned no indexed clinical trial, case series or laboratory study of Lemon Bottle. There is no published randomised or controlled efficacy study, no published pharmacokinetic or histological data, and no peer-reviewed characterisation of its composition. Efficacy claims circulating online rest on manufacturer statements and before-and-after photographs. Case reports of nodules and mycobacterial infection following other unapproved lipolysis injections illustrate the kind of harm the FDA notice refers to [8].

Why it is listed as a reference material

Analytical laboratories, regulators and clinics investigating adverse events have a legitimate need for an authentic sample of a widely circulating product in order to develop identification methods (HPLC-UV for riboflavin, protease-activity assays for bromelain, phospholipid profiling for lecithin), to check for undeclared deoxycholate or other actives, and to compare against material seized or reported. That is the sole purpose for which it is offered here.

What the research does not establish

Nothing in the published record establishes that Lemon Bottle dissolves fat, reduces body contour, or is safe when injected. No regulator has reviewed its quality, sterility, endotoxin content, safety or effectiveness. Riboflavin, bromelain and lecithin have no demonstrated lipolytic action at any concentration in adipose tissue, and the historic lipolysis literature attributes cell lysis to deoxycholate, which the manufacturer does not list. The product is not approved by the FDA or any other agency, and nothing on this page describes a use or benefit in a person or animal.

Format. Yellow aqueous solution in a sealed 10 mL glass ampoule or vial as supplied by the manufacturer. Because the manufacturer’s composition disclosure is incomplete, only the identity test results and lot information on the certificate of analysis should be relied upon; no reconstitution is required.

Storage. Store at 2–8°C protected from light: riboflavin photodegrades and bromelain loses proteolytic activity when warm. Do not freeze. Once opened, treat the contents as non-sterile and use promptly.

Dilution. Miscible with water and aqueous buffers for analytical work; the reconstitution calculator can be used in dilution mode where a target concentration of a declared component is required.

Handling. Gloves and eye protection; bromelain is a known respiratory and contact sensitiser, so avoid aerosols. For in-vitro laboratory research only — not for human or veterinary use.