According to the Therapeutic Goods Administration, an excessive ingestion of B6 can cause peripheral neuropathy, which is characterised by tingling, burning or numbness.

Polaris founder and director Nick Mann said consumers of supplements have a right to feel confident that products they purchase “will be safe for their use”.

“It’s alarming to walk down the vitamin aisle of any chemist in Australia and see vitamin supplements containing levels of B6 which are far and above the recommended daily intake.

“The fact that potentially harmful supplements have been approved for sale by the regulator does not alter the legal obligations of manufacturers to ensure that the products are safe for consumers,” Mann said.

Polaris case study Dominic Noonan-O’Keefe said he discovered the Blackmores’ Magnesium+ supplement allegedly contained approximately “29 times the recommended daily intake” of B6.

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From August 2023, three months after he began taking the supplements, Noonan-O’Keefe said he experienced “significant fatigue, excruciating headaches and hypersensitivity”.

This escalated into muscle spasms, neuralgia, heart palpitations, visual disturbances and loss of sensations across his body.

His medical team eventually identified neuropathy caused by “the excessive B6 levels in the Blackmores supplements”.

Polaris said Noonan-O’Keefe wants to “make sure that what he and countless other people have suffered does not happen to someone else” by changing the way the supplements are sold.