Menu
Log in
  • PO Box 450 Mawson ACT, 2607 Australia

  • 02 6260 4022

Look at the label – the rigorous road to quality in Australian complementary medicines

04 Jun 2019 4:18 PM | Deleted user

Complementary medicine is becoming more and more popular. Consumers of Australian made products can be confident that they are manufactured according the highest standards. Strict guidelines set by the government’s Therapeutic Goods Administration are used to protect consumers, provide the highest quality products and ensure that what they read on the label is what they’ll get inside the bottle.


Consumers increasingly want to take control of their own health and interest in natural and complementary medicines is becoming more and more popular. Consumers of Australian made products can be confident that they are manufactured according the highest standards. Strict guidelines set by the government’s Therapeutic Goods Administration are used to protect consumers, provide the highest quality products and ensure that what they read on the label is what they’ll get inside the bottle.

 

In Australia, complementary health products are regulated to the highest standards – standards considered to be a global benchmark. Products are more strictly regulated than those from the USA and even the UK. Australian complementary medicines are manufactured to a pharmaceutical standard under Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) and, these strict safety and quality regulations are stringently enforced by the Department of Health’s Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA).

 

For example, where labelling is concerned, the TGA requires that several compulsory statements are made on Australian complementary medicines labels[i]. Products feature an AUST L or AUST R number printed on the front of the label. If these are absent, the product has not been produced within the strict guidelines required by the Australian governmental departments. They do not comply to Australian quality standards.

 

Australian made products are tested regularly and comprehensively to ensure that the ingredients on the label are those in the bottle and this and the many strict processes put in place ensure that consumers have access to well researched, responsibly formulated, evidence-based, high-quality products.

 

As consumers increasingly become interested in the traditional use of herbs, spices vitamins, minerals and more, and in the potential synergy and greater understanding of complementary medicines, the understanding of how complementary medicines work alone and in conjunction with conventional medicine by consumers and by healthcare practitioners becomes vital[ii].  Several complementary health companies provide extensive nutrient and drug interaction databases for use by practitioners – including pharmacists and integrative physicians[iii].

 

Thankfully, consumers can have confidence in Australian made complementary medicines since the ingredients, warnings, recommendations, contraindications and therapeutics claims are tightly controlled. However, this confidence does not extend to products bought online  from overseas.

 

Products purchased online from overseas are not subject to the same regulations as those enforced in Australia, and therefore these purchases should only be made on the recommendation of a qualified healthcare professional or from a reputable retailer.

 

To find out more contact: media@cmaustralia.org.au.

 

 


[i] https://www.tga.gov.au/labelling-packaging

[ii][ii] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1551741116303308

[iii] https://www.blackmoresinstitute.org/interactions

Copyright © 2019 Complementary Medicines Australia. All rights reserved.

Powered by Wild Apricot Membership Software