Subra: Legal action will be taken against firm selling fake stevia

Ready to serve: Visitors checking out the Lenggong health clinic opened by Sultan Nazrin Muizzuddin Shah.

LENGGONG: Stern legal action will be taken against a company found to be peddling fake stevia products in the market, says the Health Minister.

Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam said this would serve as a warning to other companies claiming to sell natural, authentic sweetener pro­ducts to stop selling those manufactured using artificial ingredients.

“This is the only agency out of the 14 to 15 that we have inspected so far that has been found selling a sweetener that seems to be stevia, but is actually mixed with other fake ingredients.

“Their labels are also wrong, as they claim to sell authentic products when they are not. This is a clear violation of the law.

“We will take legal action against them under the Food Act, where a fine will be imposed and depending on the court’s decision, perhaps jail time as well,” he told reporters after attending the opening of the Lenggong health clinic.

The clinic was officially opened by the Sultan of Perak Sultan Naz­rin Muizzuddin Shah yesterday.

Dr Subramaniam said his ministry would continue to monitor all forms of stevia products in the market to ensure that no artificial ones were being sold.

“We hope that other companies will take heed,” he said.

On Wednesday, health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said in a statement that the ministry’s Food Safety and Qua­lity Unit had ordered the said agency selling stevia products under the brand Pure Ste­via, to recall all of its products in the market.

The issue came to light in late March after news reports revealed that fake stevia products manufactured in Malaysia were available in local markets, multi-level marketing and online.

It was reported that a group of researchers from Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia and Universiti Putra Malaysia confirmed that the combination of ha­zardous chemicals in the products could jeopardise the health of consumers.

On another issue, Dr Subrama­niam said his ministry planned to screen at least 300,000 Malaysians for tuberculosis (TB) this year, an increase of 200,000 from their previous target of 100,000 last year.

He said this was a heightened con­­trol measure to contain the spread of the disease after 11 students at a boarding school in Tai­ping were diagnosed with TB recently.

“We will specially target areas that are deemed as high risk and take their sputum or conduct an X-Ray test, whichever is possible.

“The more people we screen, the more we will be able to pick up those afflicted and treat them to reduce the risk of spreading the disease,” he said.