NPN (Canada)

Health Canada states that all natural health products sold in Canada require a product license before being marketed [1], and the Natural Health Products Regulations prohibit selling one without a license [2]. When a license is issued, the product is assigned a product number, which the label shows after the letters "NPN," or "DIN-HM" for a homeopathic medicine [1][2].

To apply, a company submits details that include the medicinal ingredients, their source and potency, the non-medicinal ingredients and the recommended use [1]. The license then sets out, among other things, the authorized dosage form, route of administration, recommended dose and recommended use or purpose [2]. Companies that manufacture, package, label or import these products must also hold site licenses and follow good manufacturing practices [3].

Health Canada says (page last modified May 4, 2017) that the number on the label "assures consumers that the product has been reviewed and approved by Health Canada for safety and efficacy" [1].

An NPN belongs to one licensed product. The regulations assign a number to each product for which a license is issued [2], so a license for one product does not cover a different product made with the same ingredient. Each license sets out the recommended use or purpose authorized for that one product [2].

On NootropicsWork, a Canadian licensed claim is quoted only from that product's record in Health Canada's Licensed Natural Health Products Database, with the date it was checked. A missing NPN on a web listing is not treated as proof of any status, and a licensed use is not treated as a trial result in healthy adults.

• ARTG (Australia)
• Structure/function claim
• DSHEA
• Label claim