‘Unapproved for humans’: How peptides are hooking the vulnerable

From weight-loss promises to muscle-building shortcuts and the allure of youthful, sun-kissed skin, injectable peptides are flooding social media feeds, marketed by influencers as the next big thing in wellness.

But behind the glossy transformations and bold promises lies a largely hidden trade, with unregulated products finding their way into the hands of Australians chasing the latest beauty and fitness fix.

Despite being promoted as harmless, many of these substances are not approved for human use in Australia. The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) warns that unregulated peptides can carry serious health risks, including liver damage, allergic reactions and inflammation — raising urgent questions about what consumers are injecting.

Rebecca Lang, chief executive of the Queensland Network of Alcohol and other Drug Agencies, said the access of un-regulated peptides online is concerning. 

“People are just buying them off the internet, and having them delivered via the traditional postal system. Others are accessing them through social media platforms, and meeting people in public,” she said.

“We live in the internet age, we live in an age where people will be able to get access to substances really quite easily.” 

Australian law prohibits the advertisement of peptides, under regulations imposed by the TGA. But despite these efforts, a thriving peptides black market has exploded across social media.

A quick search of TikTok, Facebook or Instagram reveals a growing number of fitness influencers promoting the products through paid advertisements. These advertisements direct users to external websites and messaging apps to purchase products. Others are simply available for purchase on Facebook Marketplace.  

The price of peptides advertised on Facebook Marketplace range from as low as $30 per vial to over $700 for a pack of 10 vials.

 

The ads are at odds with both TikTok’s Weight Management and Body Image, and Meta’s Drugs and Pharmaceuticals advertising policy, which require healthcare advertisers in Australia to comply with local laws.

But as of April 2026, videos about peptides on TikTok have accumulated more than 230 million views. Some of these videos feature laboratory technicians dressed in protective equipment, with large scale conveyor belts and synthesisers creating peptides.

Many of the accounts also feature contact information to purchase unregulated peptides, while external websites offer advice on how to bypass each platform’s advertising laws, including using emojis, slang or including phrases such as “research use only” and “not for human consumption” to obscure the sale of peptides.

 

Experimental and unapproved 

Peptides are short chains of amino acids which are the building blocks of protein in our bodies, acting as chemical messengers to tell the body what to do. Therapeutic peptides such as Insulin and GLP-1 medications, such as Ozempic, are regulated by the TGA and there is strong clinical evidence of their effectiveness. 

In Australia, therapeutic peptides have established themselves as a key product in the Asia Pacific peptides synthesis landscape. In 2024, the legal Australian peptides synthesis market was valued at a modest $7.6 million with research projecting it will grow to $10.9 million by 2029.

Yet many people instead purchase peptides marketed on social media, as they promise better results than therapeutic peptides.

These products have not been included in the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods nor have they been evaluated by the Therapeutic Goods Administration for safety, quality or effectiveness. One substance increasingly appearing on social media feeds is retatrutide, commonly known as “reta”, with online promoters claiming it can produce greater weight loss than GLP-1 medications such as Ozempic. 

But Victoria’s Department of Health reported their use has been linked to six cases of acute liver toxicity in the state since the start of the year. According to Victoria Health, the products were purchased online and through social media advertisements. Testing of these peptides, conducted by the University of Queensland, revealed none of the samples contained the dosages advertised on the bottle. 

Lang said the risk of using unregulated peptides is the lack of quality control. 

“Sometimes peptides are difficult to test because of the formulations that they’re prepared in,” she said. “The risk actually is not so much the amino acid or the protein chain itself.

“It’s that if you’re purchasing it outside of the regulated system, then you really can’t take it for granted that what it says it is on the label and that the dose it has on the label is what it is.

“The concern that I hold is that there is no regulatory system that has any visibility over peptides use. So we’re not doing anything to understand what those harms might be other than anecdotally.” 

Hidden impact of peptides 

Alec White-Cheshire began taking unregulated peptides and steroids at 16 years old. White-Cheshire was influenced to pick up the habit after becoming friends with other members of his local gym, sourcing the products from them. 

“I started with [steroids] then dove into peptides at the same time,” the now 29-year-old said. “I was surrounded by unrealistic perfectionism. I was surrounded by wanting to achieve a body that we all see on the front of men’s health magazines.

Peptides act as natural messengers that stimulate hormone production through receptor pathways, while steroids directly raise hormone levels. For Alec, he used anything he could get his hands on, and eventually developed an eating disorder.

“If you name it, I’ve tried it,” he said. 

“[Using peptides] becomes normalised to the same degree as brushing your teeth every morning, or having a shower. It’s part of your everyday life, you become so accustomed to it.

 

“[Peptides] don’t seem they’re bad for your health, as I was seeing results I was wishing for. You’re like, OK, this is the norm to make me feel normal tomorrow as well.” 

At 17, White-Cheshire was hospitalised for malnourishment due to his eating disorder and peptides use. He didn’t use peptides for nine years, but started up again aged 26. A car crash not long after, and meeting his now-wife, convinced him to give them up for good. 

“My priorities changed a little bit, I saw life differently,” he said. “If that hadn’t happened, I probably would still be doing it now.” 

White-Cheshire’s frequent use of steroids and peptides contributed to his worsening eating disorder and mental health during this period.

“No matter how much I took or did, I was never content with what I looked like,” he said. “A lot of people that start peptides are very much suffering from some sort of underlying mental illness. Then you’re supercharging it by introducing foreign drugs, which will fundamentally affect neuro pathways in your brain.” 

Lang agrees, believing peptides can lead to body image issues. 

“You may develop an attachment to the way you think the peptide helps your body to look,” she said. “You may develop a secondary condition, like a body dysmorphia disorder or something like that, which holds your use beyond what you originally had intended.”. 

Especially in gym culture, all the content on social media is about discipline and dedication. But it clouds the actual truth underneath that this person’s got a mental illness.

Alec White-Cheshire

Now working as an advocate for young people living with eating disorders through his company All In Mentality, White-Cheshire believes toxic social media feeds are influencing young people to use peptides. 

“[Viewers] are being reinforced that the behaviour of taking drugs and peptides is normal, because people are coming up to them in the gym, inserting a positive comment which reinforces their use of peptides,” he said. 

“Especially in gym culture, all the content on social media is popping out that [peptides use] is about discipline and dedication. But it clouds the actual truth underneath that this person’s got a mental illness.”

White-Cheshire believes that making an environment for people to feel safe about speaking up about their mental and physical health issues could counter the peptides trend.  

“It comes down to education, and trying to install it into schools to warn people about the dangers of taking peptides,” he added. 

“Even myself or other individuals coming out and being truthfully honest with young people, so they can trust you as a figure. They trust the things you’re saying to them because you know the consequences.” 

Main image screenshot by Roman de Vallance.