Health Canada warns after bacteria found in unauthorized peptides

Nov 12 (Reuters) – Health Canada on Thursday warned consumers not to inject or consume unauthorized peptides after laboratory testing found bacterial contamination in one injectable ​peptide product seized from an Ottawa wellness store. The ‌product was seized from Sage & Summit Wellness Co. in Ottawa after a consumer complaint alleged the store had been selling unauthorized peptides in-store and on its website. The business has agreed to stop ‌selling ​the products through both channels. Peptides, or ⁠short chains of amino acids, ⁠have grown in popularity, driven by endorsements from wellness influencers, for uses ranging from anti-ageing to muscle recovery and tissue repair. The US has opened access to ​some unapproved peptides. The affected products include BPC-157, commonly used for injury recovery, and Eli Lilly’s next-generation obesity injection ⁠retatrutide, which is not yet ⁠approved. They also include the “Wolverine Stack” of ​BPC-157 and TB-500 and other unauthorized injectable and oral peptides. Injecting contaminated ​products can cause serious infections, hospitalization and, in ‌severe cases, life-threatening sepsis, the agency said. Some of the seized vials were labelled “For Research Purposes Only,” meaning the products were manufactured for lab use only, not for human use. ⁠Health Canada said such labelling does not make the products legal or exempt from regulatory requirements and that they had not ⁠been manufactured or ‌tested to meet quality standards for ⁠human-use health products. Separately last week, Health Canada said ​it ‌found bacterial contamination in unauthorized injectable peptides ​seized from ⁠China-based Shanghai ERP Peptide Biotechnology Co. The department identified two Canadian online retailers selling ERP Peptide products, leading to the seizure of more than 11,400 vials in total from ERP Peptide and those retailers. (Reporting by Sriparna Roy in Bengaluru; Editing ​by Tasim Zahid)