Accessibility of herbal substances containing toxic medicinal plants on the Bulgarian market

The aim of the presented study is to investigate whether raw herbal products containing herbal substances of poisonous medicinal plants are freely accessible on the Bulgarian digital market and, if so, to perform a brief analysis of the main flaws in the legislative framework that fails to prevent that. Twenty herbal substances enlisted as poisonous in Ordinance №5 (2004) on the requirements for the herbal procurement facilities and warehouses for herbal drugs were randomly selected, and the related herbal products that appear in a browser’s top eight suggestions were analyzed. The study found that herbal products containing raw herbal drugs of poisonous plants, according to the mentioned Ordinance №5 (2004), are offered with varying frequency on Internet sites. These products have an unclear status because they violate specific legislative rules to be registered as food supplements or herbal medicinal products. Serious flaws regarding the consistency of the label information were also found. The results of our study indicate that a revision of the legislative framework related to the status, use, and control of these products is necessary.