These popular brand names appear on oral decongestants that are staples of the cold and flu aisle in American drug stores, and yet many contain an ingredient that does not work as promised. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has now proposed an order to remove oral phenylephrine from every single cold,

Oral phenylephrine was shown to be ineffective for treating nasal congestion over a year go. This week, the FDA took the first steps toward removing it from pharmacy shelves.

The safety of phenylephrine isn’t a concern, but its effectiveness has been debated for years. It's found in products like Sudafed PE, Vicks DayQuil and Mucinex Sinus-Max.