Turmeric, Black Cohosh, and Green lipped mussel are in the spotlight for possible adulteration or contamination issues. These are or will be the focus of TGA Laboratory testing programs for listed medicines.

Members should be aware that under MMDR reforms, the TGA are taking a tougher stance across all therapeutic goods industries, and therefore it is likely that any negative findings would result in compliance or enforcement actions.

Testing may occur for synthetic dyes, heavy metals including lead, and other possible contaminants, as well as correct herbal species identification by chromatographic profiling.

As foreshadowed at the CMA Innovation Day, the online database HPTLC Atlas, or 'International Atlas of HPTLC Methods of Identification of Herbal Drugs', has now been launched by the International Association for the Advancement of High Performance Thin Layer Chromatography. Information is searchable and available for free download.

For full details and links, members may view or download today's technical alert here.