Companies that produce over-the-counter medicines may be forced to have clearer pharmaceutical labels printed after research in the US found confusion over ingredients.

A study carried out by Northwestern Medicine discovered that while millions of people take pain relievers every year, a worrying number do not pay attention to their ingredients.

For instance, when asked about some of America's top brand names in the pain relief market, only 19 per cent knew Advil contained ibuprofen and 31 per cent were aware Tylenol contained acetaminophen.

The researchers have now proposed creating universal symbols for pharmaceutical Fix-a-Form labels that indicate the presence of certain drugs, as well as bullet points to tell people key facts such as how many they should take in 24 hours.

Michael Wolf, an associate professor of medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, said: "Unlike prescription products, there is no gatekeeper, no one monitoring how you take [over-the-counter medicines]."

Meanwhile, in the UK, new EU regulations came into force yesterday (May 1st 2011) banning hundreds of herbal remedies in a bid to protect consumers from potentially dangerous side-effects.

Denny Bros Ltd, 03 May 2011