Normative instruction also establishes the inclusion of warnings on labels to clarify risks
Anvisa (National Health Surveillance Agency) updated on Wednesday (April 22, 2026) the rules for food supplements with turmeric, also known as saffron.
the normative instruction adjusts the substance use limits and improves labels, to protect consumers from health risks. Read (PDF – 156 kB).
In a note, Anvisa informed that the update was motivated after the identification, in the scenario of post-market monitoring, of a possible risk of liver damage associated with the use of supplements and medications with turmeric.
In March, the agency published a pharmacovigilance alert, to warn people who use the products about the risks.
Anvisa clarified, at the time, that the risk of toxicity is not related to the use of turmeric for preparing food in everyday life. The warning only involved medicines and supplements, in which the concentrations are higher.
The alert was based on international assessments that identified suspected cases of liver poisoning in people who used products with turmeric or curcuminoids.
“The problem is associated especially with formulations and technologies that promote an increase in curcumin absorption at levels well above normal consumption”Anvisa.
Understand what changes:
- warning on supplement labeling – “This product should not be consumed by pregnant women, nursing mothers, children, people with liver disease, biliary disease or gastric ulcers. People with illnesses and/or taking medication, consult your doctor”;
- curcumin consumption limits – must be calculated by the sum of their 3 main components (total curcuminoids);
- inclusion of tetrahydrocurcuminoids in the list of permitted ingredients – there will be restrictions on mixing this new component with the natural extract of the plant in the same product, to avoid overloading the substance in the body.
This text was originally published by Agência Brasil, on April 22, 2026. The content is free for republication, citing the source, and was adapted to the standard of Poder360.
