Health Ministry: Smart pills supplier displayed fake certification letter

PETALING JAYA: The supplier of the "get smart pills" displayed a fake certification letter from the Health Ministry on its website.

The letter, purportedly issued by the ministry's Food Safety and Quality Division, classified the Dimensi 108 pills as "non-medicine" and stated that the product is not controlled by drug control authorities. 

Health Ministry director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the letter was fake and the ministry had lodged a police report on the matter.

"As a food product, claims that the pills can alter behaviour as displayed on the product label are not allowed under the Regulation 18 (1A) of the Food Regulations 1985.

"Until today, we have not received any applications by the company to classify the food product or examine its product label," he said yesterday.

Under the regulations, words to indicate grading or superiority shall not appear on the label of a food package unless such description of quality grading conforms to those established by the relevant authorities responsible for such grading.

Dr Noor Hisham said there has yet to be any scientific evidence to prove the claims that the product can "change behaviour and improve the mental capacity" of pupils. 

"The ministry will not be responsible for any side effects from the product, especially if it is taken in excess," he said. 

He said the ministry will take action under the Food Act 1983.

Dr Noor Hisham said the tablets were classified as "food not elsewhere standardised" under Regulation 395 of the Food Regulations 1985. 

It was reported that schools in several states have been "pushing pills" that supposedly make pupils cleverer.

The Dimensi 108 pills were alleged to be able to “alter” children’s behaviour to make them more obedient and resistant to illnesses, and its listed ingredients include red dates, water lily seeds, rock sugar and spirulina.

Tiga G Dimensi Satu Kosong Lapan Sdn Bhd’s managing director Omar Mohd Yusos had claimed that the pills supplied by his firm were safe, and that the product had been distributed to schools since 2010.