Boycott Food Supplements If Prices Continue To Rise, Says Ministry

KOTA BAHARU, Sept 10 (Bernama) -- Consumers should boycott food supplements if their prices continue to escalate, Deputy Health Minister Datuk Dr Abdul Latiff Ahmad said Sunday.
He said the public should exercise their rights as consumers to stop buying these items.
"Consumers forget that they have that power. The prices of food supplements go up due to high demand, so the thing to do is to stop buying them," he said when asked to comment on the rise of food supplements prices following the high price of crude oil.
However, if the supplements were proven to be beneficial to the health, consumers should consider them as long-term investments and not additional living costs, he told reporters after opening the ministry's Quran recital competition here.
He said that currently, medicines and food supplements were not included in the 25 food items listed under the Price Control Act 1985.
"Food supplements are not required to be registered and labelling their contents is sufficient, unlike health supplements which require registration," he added.
He said the public should get the latest information on food supplements so as not to be duped by misleading advertisements on products like weight-loss supplements whose effectiveness had yet to be proven.