Health Canada seized 11,400 vials of unauthorized injectable peptides — bacteria found, including in NAD+ and MOTS-C products

Edited by Samael A. Tejada, Founder & Editor-in-Chief

Every vial in this seizure was sold on a health promise. What the laboratory found inside was bacteria — a reminder that in the unauthorized injectables market, the first risk is not whether the molecule works, but whether the vial is sterile.

What did Health Canada find?

Per the November 6, 2026 advisory: unauthorized injectable peptides and non-peptide drugs sourced from Shanghai ERP Peptide Biotechnology Co., Ltd. were seized and tested, and testing identified three bacterial contaminants — Acinetobacter seifertii, Acinetobacter nosocomialis and Propionibacterium acnes (now classified Cutibacterium acnes). In total more than 11,400 vials were seized from the supplier and two Canadian retailers, truenorthbiolabs.ca and bcaxiompeptide.com; both retail sites are now inactive, following court-issued entry warrants. The named product categories include hCG, MOTS-C, NAD+, retatrutide, tesamorelin and tirzepatide.

Why does this matter for mitochondrial-health readers?

Because two of the seized categories are this site's home turf. NAD+ injections and infusions are marketed on mitochondrial energy claims, and MOTS-C is literally a mitochondrial-derived peptide, sold on exercise-mimetic and metabolic promises. Neither has the human evidence base its marketing implies — and this advisory is about a more basic failure that sits underneath the evidence question entirely: sterility. A contaminated injectable bypasses every defence the gut and skin provide. Health Canada states the consequences plainly: serious infections, hospitalization and life-threatening sepsis. The advisory gives no count of illnesses, and this article claims none; the seizure and the laboratory findings are the story.

How do readers protect themselves?

The pattern to recognize is the channel, not just this supplier: unauthorized products sold through websites with no pharmacy licence, no prescription requirement and no verifiable manufacturing standard carry exactly this risk profile, in Canada, the US and elsewhere. Injected products should come through licensed pharmacies and regulated supply chains, with a prescriber who knows what is in the vial and where it was made. If a peptide is cheap, ships without questions and promises mitochondrial transformation, the questions it skips are the ones that keep injectables safe. Regulators seizing 11,400 vials at two retailers also implies a demand side: the market exists because buyers want these molecules. Wanting them is understandable. Injecting unsterile versions of them is how a longevity habit becomes an emergency admission.

Where the evidence stands

• Established: The advisory facts (Health Canada, November 6, 2026): bacterial contamination confirmed by testing (A. seifertii, A. nosocomialis, C. acnes), more than 11,400 vials seized, two retail sites inactive after court-issued warrants, and the regulator's stated sepsis risk from injecting contaminated products.
• Preliminary: Nothing about efficacy is at issue in the advisory: it makes no finding on whether NAD+, MOTS-C or the other named products work. Their human evidence bases remain limited and are graded in this site's peptide coverage.
• Absent: An illness count — the advisory reports no number of infections or hospitalizations linked to these products, and none should be inferred.