The TGA has pulled teething and mouth ulcer products containing choline salicylate from supermarket shelves in response to concerns around the risk of toxicity from their use.

It means from 1 October, the products will only be available as Schedule 2 medicines from pharmacies.

Current therapeutic guidelines in Australia do not currently recommend teething gels — irrespective of choline salicylate content — due to the lack of evidence of efficacy and potential for harm.

The original re-scheduling application made to the TGA proposed changing the products to Schedule 3, pharmacist-only, citing concerns over toxicity in gels available for purchase without restriction in concentrations of up to 40%.