Bad news for any biohacking fitfluencers reading this: Canada is cracking down on peptides.
What happened: The Quebec Superior Court granted Health Canada’s injunction against Quebec company Canlab Research, banning it from selling unauthorized injectable peptides in the country. It’s also barred from testing, manufacturing, and advertising such products.
The federal health regulator has been on Canlab’s case since 2023 — before the peptide craze really took off — when it first ordered the company to stop selling its products and put out a public health advisory warning Canadians to steer clear.
Catch-up: Peptides are short chains of amino acids that regulate hormones (insulin being the most famous example). They’re commonly used in pharmaceuticals, but a wave of fitness, tech, and other influencers have started championing a DIY approach to taking them, claiming that “stacking” combos of different ones can achieve a wide array of health goals.
This has led to the rapid proliferation of grey market companies hawking injectable peptides online under the guise of conducting research-only sales.
Why it matters: These are unauthorized, untested, and unproven drugs that an increasing number of people are putting into their bodies — call us old-fashioned, but we find this alarming. The injunction is a win for Health Canada in potentially reducing consumption.
Yes, but: Health Canada isn’t getting any help from its MAHA-pilled counterparts in the U.S. Last week, a group of federal health advisors recommended that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration ease some restrictions on three of these drugs.—QH
