The Therapeutic Goods Administration has launched a crackdown on unregulated peptides, saying increased illegal imports were posing a risk to consumers.

The Therapeutic Goods Administration has named unapproved peptides as a new priority focus area.

Unregulated peptides are often hyped as performance or image enhancing, and have exploded in popularity online.

The TGA says its response to unregulated peptides might include product seizures, infringement notices and civil or criminal penalties where appropriate.