Some herbal firms violated regulations

Daily Express: Kota Kinabalu: Some herbal companies have violated the regulations by adding ingredients, including prohibited items, to their products after obtaining registration from the Health Ministry.
Deputy Health Minister Datuk Dr Abdul Latif Ahmad said herbal companies were required to obtain registration numbers from the Ministry for their products before they could be sold to the public.
He said the registration numbers were issued by the Ministry through the National Pharmaceutical Control Bureau.
"It was discovered that some companies, after getting the registration numbers to market their products, have violated the regulations.
"They observed procedures only for the sake of getting the registration numbers and after that changed or added other ingredients to their products without referring to the Ministry," he told reporters after opening a seminar on herbal medication, here, Wednesday.
In doing so, he said, the companies had jeopardised consumers' health. Abdul Latif said the Ministry's enforcement unit would continue to conduct random checks to ensure that companies which manufacture and market herbal products abide by the regulations. On the seminar, he hoped the participants would come up with a resolution which the Government could adopt to stimulate the growth of the herbal industry and in making the country the world's biotechnology centre.
"Malaysia has experts in the herbal industry and the Government is serious about developing the industry," he added.