The Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration, better known as TGA, has proposed a number of changes that could drastically change the supplement industry in the country. At the moment, in Australia, powder supplements such as proteins, pre-workouts, and fat burners are classified as “foods”.
The TGA’s proposed legislation would see almost every supplement reclassified as “therapeutic goods”, which comes with significantly stricter rules and regulations. To remain as “foods”, the majority of powder products would need to be reformulated and repackaged without simple claims such as “muscle building”, and in turn impact the range of products consumers have available to them.
If companies want to keep their supplements that aren’t classed as “foods” the same, they will need to follow the rules of “therapeutic goods”. As mentioned, that comes with a very different set of regulations that involve additional manufacturing processes, which could take a long time to go through.
Basically, if the TGA’s proposed changes do go through, it will indeed drastically change the Australian supplement industry. If brands end up taking the “therapeutic goods” route, powder products will likely be off shelves for some time to comply. As for items that remain as “foods”, they’ll be relaunched without common claims and only use basic ingredients and doses such as a limit of 490mg of leucine.
Australia’s TGA is currently taking submissions from people regarding the new legislation through until Tuesday the 3rd of next month. You can read more about all of the proposed changes and how you can help through the website bodybuilders.com.au, put together by the supplement manufacturer Bulk Nutrients.
