If youโve been reaching for Andrographis (or products containing it) at the first sign of a cold, you may have noticed itโs disappearing from shelves. Andrographis paniculata is no longer allowed in listed medicines sold in Australia, effective September 17, 2026, following a decision by the Therapeutic Goods Administration.
The TGA received 287 reports of anaphylaxis between 2005 and 31 December 2025, of which 217 were received between 2019 and 2025, alongside a total of 1,368 adverse event reports of all types. A fatal case was reported in June 2024. The review determined the risk of severe allergic reactions, including anaphylaxis, associated with Andrographis cannot be adequately managed within the listed medicines framework.ย
Itโs a significant loss. Andrographis is, or was, one of the most effective herbal immune stimulants available over the counter. Complementary Medicines Australia has criticised the decision, calling for Andrographis to be managed with warnings like other medicines including paracetamol and antibiotics. This points to a broader systemic issue. But the way this herb was being used in the general market tells a story worth looking at.
The Right Herb at the Wrong Time
Andrographis is not a gentle herb. In the classical framework itโs cold and bitter, a heat-clearing, toxin-resolving substance with strong anti-inflammatory and antipyretic actions. In Western herbal terms, itโs a strong immunostimulant: highly effective when the immune system genuinely needs a one-directional push, and the wrong tool when it doesnโt.
The problem is that plenty of people were taking it every time they felt a bit off. Through the whole change of season. Whenever energy dipped or a throat felt scratchy. And what they were experiencing in many of those times wasnโt viral at all, it was their nervous system, a run of poor sleep, or their body adjusting to seasonal transition. Sending a strong immune stimulant into that environment isnโt just unnecessary. Itโs a mismatch between the herb and the actual pattern.
The TGA noted that anaphylaxis associated with Andrographis can be rapid and unpredictable, it can occur on first use or after previous uneventful use, even in people with no history of allergies. They also noted there has been no decline in anaphylaxis reports in 2025 compared to 2022 and 2023 before the strengthened label warning was introduced, suggesting the warning has not effectively reduced cases.
One additional nuance worth understanding: 83% of anaphylaxis cases involved products containing both Andrographis and Echinacea, however 15 anaphylaxis reports (5%) were for medicines with Andrographis as the sole active ingredient, and only 10 anaphylaxis cases involving Echinacea without Andrographis have been reported in the same period, for the TGA, the meant that Andrographis is the likely culprit rather than Echinacea.
There is a distinction the Taoist tradition made between acute medicinal herbs and tonic herbs. Acute herbs are powerful clinical tools designed for specific presentations, applied with precision and discontinued when the job is done. Tonic herbs are daily constitutional allies, safe for extended use, oriented toward building the terrain that makes acute intervention less often necessary in the first place. Andrographis is firmly in the acute category.ย
A Familiar Story
At SuperFeast we know this dynamic from closer to home. He Shou Wu, one of the most deeply nourishing Jing tonics in the entire Taoist pharmacopoeia, ran into regulatory trouble in Australia following adverse event reports of liver issues. The TGA received nine reports of liver damage in consumers taking products containing He Shou Wu between 2008 and 2018, and issued a safety advisory in 2019 requiring products to carry warning labels about the risk of liver injury.
We believe the issue came down primarily to preparation. Classically, He Shou Wu is processed, cured in black bean broth, before use, a preparation that transforms the raw herb into the deeply nourishing tonic the tradition describes. Processed He Shou Wu may be safer compared to its raw form, though this hasnโt been fully tested in people. The raw herb has a meaningfully different safety profile from the properly prepared form, and the adverse events that generated regulatory concern were almost certainly related to preparation quality rather than the herbโs inherent therapeutic character.
What happened in both cases reflects a broader systemic gap: the absence of a pathway for herbs that are safe and valuable in skilled hands to remain available under practitioner supervision when safety signals emerge in the general consumer market. A rapid pathway to practitioner-only status, where a naturopath, herbalist, or integrative doctor makes the clinical decision, would be a more proportionate and more respectful response to the clinical reality than full removal. Weโre part of the organisations pushing for exactly this upgrade in how natural medicines are regulated in Australia.
Andrographis can still be available to consumers through the registered medicines pathway, designed for health supplements and OTC medicines considered relatively higher risk than listed medicines. That pathway exists in principle, but in practice itโs an extraordinarily long and expensive road for a herbal product, and means Andrographis is effectively unavailable for most Australians for the foreseeable future.
What the Gap Opens Up
Losing Andrographis is, among other things, an opportunity to get more specific about what herbs are actually for, and to direct people toward the category that serves them best for daily immune support.
Andrographis is a single-directional push. When the immune system genuinely needs stimulating, when thereโs a clear viral picture, a defined acute presentation, that push is exactly whatโs called for. But for the much more common situation, change of season, low-level vulnerability, the sense that something might be brewing, or simply wanting to support immune resilience as a consistent daily practice, a different kind of support is more appropriate and considerably safer for long-term use.
Medicinal mushrooms and tonic immune herbs are that support. Specifically, an immune-modulating preparation rather than an immune-stimulating one. The distinction matters: immune modulation means the preparation supports the immune system in finding its appropriate response, up when it needs to come up, down when it needs to come down. Itโs a personal trainer for the immune system rather than a single-directional stimulant. You can take it every day. Through the whole change of season. When you feel something brewing. And keep taking it after, because the benefits are cumulative and the safety profile supports extended daily use.
Masonโs Mushrooms and Mushroom M8, SuperFeastโs medicinal mushroom blends, are built for exactly this context. Eight species of the highest quality starting material, traditionally extracted medicinal mushrooms working together to support immune terrain, gut microbiome health, and the kind of constitutional immune resilience that doesnโt depend on an acute intervention because the foundation was built before it was needed.
The Broader Picture
The Taoist tradition has always understood that the most important medicine is the one that prevents the need for medicine or intervention. Superior herbs, which is another term used for the tonic category, are used daily not because something is currently โwrongโ but because keeping the terrain healthy means something is less likely to go wrong. When acute illness does arrive, the acute herbs are incredible tools. But that moment is specific, sometimes best managed with a qualified clinician and is time-limited.
What the Andrographis removal reveals, is a market that may have been using an acute herb in a tonic context. That mismatch may have contributed to the safety signals. And the correction, unfortunate as its current form is, points in the right direction: start with the superior herbs, build the terrain, and save the powerful acute tools for when theyโre genuinely called for.
The dispensary shelf has a gap. The tonic mushroom category is what belongs in it for daily immune support. And the distinction between those two categories, once understood, changes how herbs are chosen for good.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Why has Andrographis been removed from Australian shelves?
A: The TGA removed Andrographis from the list of permitted ingredients in listed medicines effective September 17, 2026, following a safety review documenting 287 reports of anaphylaxis between 2005 and December 2025, including one fatal case in June 2024, from a total of 1,368 adverse events associated with Andrographis-containing medicines. Despite mandatory warning labels introduced in 2019 and strengthened in 2024, the number of anaphylaxis cases has not declined. The TGA determined the risk of severe allergic reactions cannot be adequately managed within the listed medicines framework.
Q: Can I still buy Andrographis in Australia?
A: Products already listed in the ARTG can continue to be supplied in the short term, you may still find some on shelves while existing stock is sold through. However, the TGA has strongly recommended that sponsors voluntarily cancel their ARTG listings and recall products, with compulsory regulatory action for non-compliant brands from mid-October 2026. In the longer term, Andrographis can theoretically remain available through the registered medicines pathway, which requires full quality, safety, and efficacy assessment, though in practice this is a very long and expensive process that means Andrographis will be effectively unavailable for most Australians for the foreseeable future.
Q: Whatโs the difference between an acute herb and a tonic herb?
A: This distinction is foundational in the Taoist herbal tradition. Acute herbs are powerful clinical tools designed for specific presentations, theyโre applied with precision for a defined period and discontinued when the job is done. Andrographis is a classic acute herb: cold and bitter, aggressive in its immune-stimulating action, highly effective when the immune system genuinely needs a one-directional push. Tonic herbs are daily constitutional allies, non-toxic, safe for extended use, oriented toward building the terrain that makes acute intervention less necessary in the first place. Medicinal mushrooms are tonic herbs in this sense: immune-modulating rather than immune-stimulating, safe for daily long-term use, and designed to build resilience rather than to treat an acute presentation.
Q: Whatโs the difference between immune modulation and immune stimulation?
A: Immune stimulation drives the immune system in a single direction, up. Andrographis is a classic immunostimulant: it activates and amplifies immune function. This is appropriate when the immune system genuinely needs stimulating, in a clear viral presentation, an acute infection. Immune modulation is bidirectional, it helps the immune system find its appropriate response regardless of the direction needed. Medicinal mushrooms are immune modulators: if the immune system needs to come up it comes up, and if it needs to come down it comes down. For daily use through seasonal transitions, ongoing stress, or general immune terrain support, modulation is the appropriate mechanism, not stimulation.
Q: What should I take instead of Andrographis for immune support?
A: It depends on what youโre actually trying to do. For daily immune terrain support, building the constitutional foundation that makes illness less likely and recovery more complete, medicinal mushrooms are the appropriate category. Masonโs Mushrooms and Mushroom M8 from SuperFeast are specifically formulated for this purpose: eight species of Di Dao sourced, properly extracted medicinal mushrooms providing broad-spectrum immunomodulatory, gut microbiome, and adaptogenic support. For acute immune support when something is genuinely brewing, there are other acute herbal options including Echinacea, elderberry, and andrographolide-containing preparations if and when they become available through appropriate regulatory pathways. The key is matching the herb to the actual clinical picture rather than using an acute tool in a tonic context.ย
Q: What happened to He Shou Wu in Australia and is it coming back?
A: He Shou Wu ran into regulatory difficulty in Australia following adverse event reports. The TGA received nine reports of liver damage in consumers taking He Shou Wu-containing products between 2008 and 2018, and issued a safety advisory in April 2019 requiring products to carry liver injury warning labels. SuperFeast believes the issue was substantially related to preparation quality, classically, He Shou Wu is processed by curing in black bean broth before use, which transforms the raw herbโs safety profile. The raw, unprocessed form has a different and less favourable safety profile. He Shou Wu remains in regulatory limbo in Australia. We hope it finds its way back, itโs one of the most nourishing Jing tonics in the tradition, and we continue to advocate for regulatory frameworks that keep valuable herbs in skilled hands rather than removing them entirely.ย
Q: Why doesnโt SuperFeast make acute immune herbs like Andrographis?
A: Because itโs not what SuperFeast does. SuperFeastโs entire range is built within the Taoist tonic herbal lineage, superior herbs and medicinal mushrooms that are safe for extended daily use and oriented toward building constitutional vitality rather than treating acute conditions. This isnโt a limitation, itโs a philosophy. The Taoist traditionโs most important insight is that the best medicine is the one that prevents the need for medicine. Building immune terrain consistently over months and years through tonic mushrooms and herbs is the practice that makes acute interventions less often necessary. When they are necessary, thatโs the moment for the acute clinical herbs, in the hands of a qualified practitioner who knows exactly how theyโll land.
By Ainsley Rose, Bachelor of Health Science (Naturopathy), NHAA member.
