ATLANTA (AP) - Health officials are investigating 184 reports of
illness in people who took dietary supplements containing toxic
levels of the mineral selenium.

Last month, federal officials warned consumers about harmful
doses of selenium -- a mineral considered healthful in small
amounts -- in plastic bottles of liquid ``Total Body Formula'' and
``Total Body Mega Formula.''

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration found up to 200 times the label level of selenium. The agency also found 17 times the label level of chromium, but the agency has not yet concluded if those levels are toxic.

Health officials are looking into an escalating number of illnesses in ten states -- Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, Kentucky, Texas, Louisiana, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Virginia and North Carolina.

No deaths have been reported. One person has been hospitalized.

The most cases have been reported in Florida, with 48, and
Georgia, with about 40, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, which is helping in the investigation.

Reported symptoms include hair loss, discolored and painful fingernails, muscle cramps, joint pain, diarrhea and fatigue.

People take one-ounce doses of the products as kind of a liquid
vitamin.

Dr. James Lando, who is leading the CDC team working on the investigation, said consumers include children and elderly people as well as those of ages in between.

Lando said toxic levels of the minerals were in about 1,200
bottles distributed in 16 states and over the Internet.

The manufacturer recalled the product March 27th, but health
officials said reports indicate many people may not have heard
about the problem and may have continued to take the product.