BUTTERWORTH, April 26 — The Health Ministry is analysing candies looking like cigarettes that are being sold outside school premises, said Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam.
“If they are found to contain substances harmful to health, we will take action.
“Such candies also cannot be sold in the form of cigarette packaging. Anyone preparing, packing and labelling food products falsely face action under the Food Act 1983,” he told reporters after launching a MySihat India 1Malaysia programme here today.
Dr Subramaniam was responding to media reports today on the sale of such candies, also known as “smoke candy”, which were sold in packs that looked like those of international brand cigarettes.
Members of the public had complained it would encourage children to take up smoking.
On another matter, Dr Subramaniam said he had discussed with Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Jamil Khir Baharom on measures that could be taken to protect Malaysian pilgrims going to the Holy Land from being infected by the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV).
He said the pilgrims needed to take additional precautions and need not be unduly worried as both Malaysia and Saudi Arabia had the best available healthcare facilities.
“It is possible the virus is present in camels. And from there it could have spread to humans. To spread from human to human is not something easy, it requires very close contact,” he said.
Yesterday the minister had announced that there had been no new MERS-CoV cases in the country since the death of a man due to the disease on April 13.
The 54-year-old man from Batu Pahat, Johor died at the Sultanah Nora Ismail after complaining of fever, cough and breathing difficulty.
He had returned from performing the umrah (minor haj) on March 29.
It was the first reported MERS-CoV case in Asean. — Bernama
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