Natural health products ingredients database

The Natural health products ingredients database (NHPID) provides an electronic tool which enables members of the public to access information on the following topics:

  • acceptable medicinal and non-medicinal ingredients used in Natural health products (NHP)
  • standard terminology used by the Natural health products online system (NHP Online System), known as "Controlled vocabulary", referring to acceptable quality test methods, dosage forms, non-medicinal ingredient purposes, and so on.
  • pre-cleared information such as single ingredient monographs and product monographs

Members of the public can search these topics using the following search functions:

Ingredient search

In the Ingredient search field, enter any part of an ingredient name or Chemical abstract service (CAS) number. Select an ingredient role from the Role dropdown list, and click on the Search button to display the search results for the query.

Please note that the homeopathic ingredient names and sources are mainly in English because it represents information coming from one French language pharmacopoeia and four English language pharmacopoeias.

Controlled vocabulary search

Controlled vocabulary provides a standard for the electronic transmission of core sets of natural health product information. In the Controlled vocabulary search field, enter any part of a controlled vocabulary term. Select a category from the Category dropdown list, and click on the Search button to display the search results for the query.

The search engines treat the Controlled vocabulary search field as a sequence of characters to search for. They accept letters in either uppercase or lowercase. The search engines ignore operators such as AND, NOT, and OR.

If the search is unsuccessful, try synonyms, alternate spellings or other combinations of keywords.

For additional search tips, please consult the Natural health products ingredients database web application guide. For more information on the terminology please consult the Natural health products online system standard terminology guide.

Pre-Cleared information

Pre-cleared information (PCI) is any form of information supporting the safety, efficacy or quality of a medicinal ingredient or natural health product that NNHPD has reviewed and determined to be acceptable.

PCI can be used to speed up the evaluation of the NHP, and serves as a reliable source of product information for consumers.

To propose changes to the NHPID

For additions or modifications to the NHPID, please fill in a Natural Health Products Ingredients Database Issue Form and send to ingredient_support@hc-sc.gc.ca.

Link: Natural Health Products Ingredients Database Issue Form