Sleep drug melatonin illegally listed for sale on online marketplaces including Superdrug

A good night's sleep is hard to find, so it's understandable you might look for outside help.

But retailers could be putting your health at risk by inadequate policing of banned products being advertised for sale on their platforms.

Melatonin, a hormone that plays a role in regulating sleep and is used to treat some sleep issues, is only legally available to buy with a prescription in the UK.

But from October 2025 to January 2026, we found multiple melatonin supplements, patches and more advertised for sale on AliExpress, Amazon, eBay, Etsy, Superdrug Marketplace, and Temu, including some claiming to contain much higher doses than the maximum dose prescribed by the NHS.

Why is melatonin prescription-only in the UK?

Melatonin is available over the counter in some countries, such as the US. But in the UK, it's prescription only. 

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) told us this is because, ‘Melatonin is considered to pose an identifiable risk to public/patient safety due to its ability to exert significant modification to human physiology.’

Professor Azeem Majeed, head of primary care & public health at Imperial College London and award-winning GP, explains, ‘Melatonin has a direct effect on the sleep–wake cycle and broader physiological processes, and its use can lead to side effects such as headaches, dizziness and mood changes. It can also interact with a number of commonly used medicines.’

If, for example, you’re taking anti-depressants, contraceptives or warfarin, melatonin could increase your risk of side effects.

Professor Majeed adds, ‘Medical oversight helps ensure that it is used appropriately, that underlying sleep problems (that are often better addressed through non-drug approaches) are not overlooked, and that its use in vulnerable groups – such as children or during pregnancy – is carefully managed.’

Melatonin sleep supplements widely listed online

Despite this regulation, it seems suppliers are finding ways to slip through the cracks.

We found melatonin products for sale across a range of online marketplaces, including melatonin skin patches on Superdrug marketplace.

Most of the melatonin products we found were in capsule, tablet or gummy form and were marketed as food supplements. Many were claimed to be ‘100% drug free’, despite the fact that melatonin is classed as a medicinal drug in the UK.

The usual starting dose of melatonin you'd be prescribed is 2mg, according to the NHS melatonin guide, up to a maximum of 10mg for more severe sleep problems. But we consistently saw 10mg doses listed, and even saw one as high as 30mg from the brand Balincer on Temu.

Professor Majeed warned, '30mg daily is well above the recommended dose and could lead to an increased risk of side effects including drowsiness, headaches, low blood pressure, dizziness and disruption to the hormonal system.'

Some products being sold by third-party sellers were coming from abroad, while some were shipping from within the UK.

In some instances, melatonin wasn’t mentioned in the image or product name but was only visible on the list of ingredients, meaning people might not even realise what they're buying.

We found eight supplements claiming to be ‘night time fat burners’ on eBay that listed melatonin among their ingredients. One example, from the brand 'Live Nature's' didn't specify on the listing how much melatonin was in the product at all.

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Safety checks aren't keeping up

Some marketplaces do have measures in place to pro-actively spot illegal listings and remove them from sale.

On Amazon, we spotted some melatonin gummies that were obscuring the word melatonin on the product, likely to avoid getting caught out and removed by automated processes looking for red-flag words. Still, this product was subsequently taken down by Amazon before we flagged it.

Likewise, it looked like several products aimed to get around automatic detection on Temu by using spaces and naming the product ‘melat onin’ or listing it as an ingredient. We spotted eight such products on Temu in November, but all had been removed by January.

It's good to see action is being taken to remove these products without prompting, but they should never have been available for sale in the first place.

'10mg sleep'

Sellers are constantly finding new ways to avoid detection – we found several supplements on eBay and Temu listing their only active ingredient as ‘10mg sleep’.

It is illegal to misrepresent the ingredients in a food supplement, and since you can't portion out 10mg of sleep and put it in a supplement, that is exactly what these sellers are doing.

In the descriptions of the product listings, though, were references to melatonin.

For example, ‘10mg sleep’ capsules from the brand Xemenry starts its product description by saying ‘our melatonin helps you fall asleep faster’.

It’s alarming that sellers could so easily list fake ingredients on these platforms.

Melatonin teas and patches

It's not just pills and gummies – some listings were for melatonin skin patches or sleep teas. 

We spotted Snooze sleep patches from US brand the Friendly Patch Co (containing 7mg melatonin) listed by third-party sellers on Amazon and Superdrug Marketplace.

When we queried this with Superdrug, it said that topically-applied products were widely available for general sale across the UK (though we didn't spot melatonin patches at any other mainstream health retailer), but that it would contact the MHRA for guidance. The MHRA confirmed to us that it considers any product that contains melatonin, including those applied topically such as skincare, to be a medicine.

All the melatonin products we found on AliExpress were patches promising a ‘natural deep sleep’.

Formats like this appeared to be better at slipping the net. We found teas containing melatonin that looked to have been up on Amazon for several months – or even years.

US tea company Celestial Seasonings sells a range of teas in the UK, but it doesn't sell its melatonin tea as per the rules. However, we found a third-party seller advertising this tea on Amazon, where the listing had been live since November 2024.

Another tea had been on the site since November 2023. Amazon took it down when we shared our findings with them.

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What’s the harm in buying melatonin online?

While it’s illegal to sell melatonin without a prescription, it’s not a controlled substance so it’s not illegal to bring it back from another country.

You might think there's little risk in buying it here if it's freely available elsewhere, but there's good reason its sale is regulated, and that is for patient safety. 

If you choose to buy melatonin from illegal sellers, there's no knowing what you'll end up with as it's operating outside legal channels. Products could contain too much melatonin, or none at all, alongside a host of other potentially dodgy ingredients and fillers.

Professor Majeed explains, ‘Strict regulation ensures the quality, consistency and safety of melatonin products. In countries where melatonin is sold as a dietary supplement, manufacturing standards can be variable.

‘Unregulated or overseas suppliers may produce products with inaccurate dosing or impurities, which can pose additional risks to people. The UK’s classification system ensures that melatonin supplied to patients meets the standards required for prescription medicines.’

It's especially risky for vulnerable groups like children, who should not be given melatonin without medical supervision and certainly not unknown products bought from online marketplaces.

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Why melatonin might not be your best bet for sleep issues, and what to do instead

Melatonin can be helpful for sleep problems in some circumstances, including managing jet lag and short-term sleep issues, or longer-term ones related to specific health conditions.

But like any medication, it's not without risk, and there may be better options that will help address your sleep issues.

If you or your child is struggling to sleep and it's impacting your life significantly, it's best to discuss your concerns and symptoms with a health professional, such as your GP or pharmacist, to get the right help and rule out any other causes.

See the NHS guide to melatonin, and Royal Collage of Psychiastrists guide to sleep problems for more.

7 tips for better sleep from the pros - we asked sleep experts what works best, and the herbal remedies to avoid

What did the marketplaces say?

AliExpress said, 'AliExpress takes product safety very seriously and maintains strict policies to ensure a safe and compliant online shopping experience. Among these policies is a clear prohibition on the cross-border sale of medications and dietary supplements through our platform. All third-party sellers on AliExpress are required to comply with applicable laws and adhere to our platform rules. 

‘We have promptly removed the flagged listings flagged by Which?. We are also taking appropriate enforcement actions against the sellers found to be in violation of our policies.’

Amazon said, ‘Safety is our top priority, and we require all products offered in our store to comply with applicable laws, regulations and Amazon policies.

‘We develop innovative tools to prevent unsafe products from being listed and if we discover a product was undetected by our automated checks, we address the issue immediately and refine our controls.

‘We take action to maintain a safe selection for our customers, including removing noncompliant products, and outreach to sellers, manufacturers, and government agencies for additional information, when appropriate.

‘The highlighted items have been removed.’

eBay said, ‘Consumer safety is a top priority for eBay. These items violate eBay policy and have been removed. We work diligently to prevent and remove unsafe product listings through seller compliance audits, block filter algorithms, AI-supported monitoring by in-house specialists, and close partnerships with regulators. Together, these measures help to prevent millions of potentially unsafe items from being listed each year.

‘We are reviewing the wider marketplace to remove any identical listings. We are continually updating filters to prevent bad actors from circumventing our policies. Notably, a number of the listings highlighted by Which? were unavailable for purchase even prior to the investigation being shared with eBay.’

Etsy did not respond to requests for comment.

Superdrug said, ‘Topically applied products that contain melatonin as one of their ingredients are widely available for general sale across the UK. 

‘We have contacted the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) for clarification on the guidelines for including melatonin as an ingredient within topically-applied products.’

Temu said, ‘Thank you for bringing this to our attention. Temu prohibits the sale of products containing melatonin and removes any such listings once detected, with penalties applied to sellers for violations.

'Our monitoring systems continuously screen the platform for non-compliant products. As you noted, many of the melatonin products you identified had already been detected and removed before your inquiry. The remaining products were removed on the same day you flagged them, and the sellers penalized.

‘Bad actors will attempt to circumvent controls by deliberately misspelling ingredients or mislabelling products to evade text and image recognition. We have invested heavily in compliance systems combining proprietary technology with expert human review to identify these bad actors and ban them from our platform.

‘We welcome reports of potential non-compliant listings so we can take prompt action.’

We contacted brands Balincer, Bcuelov, Live Nature's and Xemenry for comment, but they did not respond.