How to search the ARTG for a supplement

What the ARTG is

The Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods, usually shortened to the ARTG, is the public database of therapeutic goods that can be legally supplied in Australia. Medicines, including vitamin and mineral supplements sold as medicines, are entered on it before they can be sold.

The register is public, and anyone can search it. It is the way to check that the supplement in your hand is what its label says it is.

Before you search: find the number

Look for a code on the label beginning with AUST. It will be one of three kinds.

• AUST L, a listed medicine.
• AUST L(A), an assessed listed medicine.
• AUST R, a registered medicine.

The digits after those letters are the product's entry number on the register. That number is the fastest way to find the right entry, because product names repeat and brands change. Our guide to what AUST L means explains the difference between the three.

How to search

The TGA publishes the register through a search tool on its website, reached from its page on the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods. You can search by:

• ARTG ID, which is the number from the AUST code
• product name or good name
• sponsor name, the company responsible for the product in Australia
• active ingredient
• excipient, meaning the other ingredients such as fillers and capsule shells

Searching by the number is the most reliable. Searching by ingredient is the most interesting, because it shows you every product on the register containing that ingredient.

The TGA notes that the search was designed for larger screens, so a laptop or desktop works better than a phone.

What an entry shows you

An ARTG entry sets out the product name and formulation details, and the sponsor and manufacturer details. Entries link to a Public Summary document, and, where they exist, to Product Information and Consumer Medicine Information documents.

For a supplement, the useful parts are usually these.

• The exact product name. Useful for telling apart products in a range with similar names.
• The sponsor. The company legally responsible for the product in Australia, which is not always the brand on the front of the pack.
• The active ingredients and their quantities. This is where you can confirm the amount of the mineral element, rather than relying on the front of the pack. Our guide to elemental magnesium explains why that figure is the one that matters.
• Whether it is listed, assessed listed or registered.

What the register does not tell you

Whether the product works. For a listed medicine with a plain AUST L number, the TGA has not assessed the scientific evidence for the product's claims before it goes on sale. An entry on the register is permission to supply, not a verdict on the evidence.

Whether it is right for you. The register says nothing about your medicines, your kidney function or anything else particular to you. That is a conversation with a pharmacist or doctor.

What has been cancelled. The search shows current active entries. Products that have been cancelled or suspended do not appear, so a product you cannot find may be one that was removed rather than one that was never there.

If you cannot find a product

There are a few ordinary explanations.

• You searched the name, not the number. Try the digits from the AUST code instead.
• It is a food, not a medicine. Some products that look like supplements, including many powders and bars, are regulated as foods and never receive an AUST number.
• It was bought from overseas. Products ordered from overseas websites may never have been entered on the ARTG.
• The entry was cancelled. Cancelled entries do not show in the search.

If a product claims an AUST number that does not match anything on the register, that is worth taking seriously. The TGA takes reports about therapeutic goods through its website.

A worked routine

For anyone comparing supplements, this takes about two minutes per product.

1. Find the AUST code on the pack and note the digits.
2. Search the ARTG for that number.
3. Check the product name and sponsor match the pack in front of you.
4. Read the active ingredients and quantities, and note the amount of the element, not just the compound.
5. Note whether it is AUST L, AUST L(A) or AUST R, so you know what has and has not been assessed.

Then compare products on the numbers, not the marketing. Our guide to side effects and interactions covers what to check with a pharmacist before starting anything new. Nothing on this page is a substitute for individual medical advice.