Suspicious supplements have consumers on high alert (Poll Inside)

PETALING JAYA: While browsing an ecommerce website to purchase her joint support and anti-inflammatory supplements, Leya was taken aback by what she discovered – the products were being offered at incredibly low prices by certain sellers.

“I usually pay around RM120 to RM180 for a joint support and a turmeric curcumin supplement that I’ve been taking for over a year now.

“Each bottle contains 180 tablets. But I was shocked when I saw a seller offering the products for only RM38 for 120 tablets.

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“They even had smaller bottles of 30 and 60 tablets at significantly cheaper rates, which is unusual for these brands,” said Leya, a 40-year-old personal trainer.

Further searches led her to similar results, where other commonly used supplements were being sold at much cheaper prices by various overseas sellers.

Curious, Leya ordered a bottle of joint support supplement from one of these sellers.

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When the product arrived, she immediately knew something was amiss.

“The label on the bottle appeared similar to the original, but it wasn’t the same in terms of colour and design.

“Also, the original white-coated tablets had been replaced with white capsules. When I opened the capsule, the brownish powder smelled like herbs.

“I am quite certain it was fake,” she said, adding that she discarded the products.

Another buyer, who preferred to be known as Kai, 35, shared a similar experience when the multivitamins from an online seller looked different from the ones he usually consumes.

“I bought it because it was cheap, thinking it was on sale. But as soon as I saw how different it was, I dared not consume it.

“The label and design on the bottle looked off, and it even had an expiry date printed, which is not the norm for the product I used to buy,” said Kai, a sales executive.

When Kai raised his concerns with the seller, he received only a general thank you note and was encouraged to explore other products.

When asked, he stated his preference for a specific multivitamin brand, which is exclusively available online.

“I used to buy it directly from the manufacturer’s website,” he added, stating his intention to dispose of the counterfeits.

Kai noted the potential risks associated with such products, particularly for those who are purchasing them for the first time.

“They won’t have anything to compare with or check. We need to be cautious and not simply buy supplements from unverified sellers online,” he said.