GEORGE TOWN: Five women suffered vomiting, nausea and stomach ache after consuming what is believed to be a fake health drink they bought from two premises in Bukit Jambul, here, last Sunday.
Unhappy with what had happened to them, all of them left comments on the health drink company's Facebook page.
Following investigation, the company owner suspected that the victims may have purchased fake products and lodged a complaint with the Penang Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry (KPDNHEP).
Acting on information, a team of personnel from the ministry, along with representatives from the trademark owner, conducted a raid at 2pm yesterday.
Penang KPDNHEP enforcement chief Chin Ching Chung said during the raid, they seized 57 bottles of the health drink, believed to be fake, worth RM1,596.
"We found that the fake health drink for women was sold at RM18 per bottle compared with the actual product which is sold at RM32 each.
"The owners of the premises were found to have been operating for the past year, and claimed they did not know that the product sold was legit or fake," he said today.
Chin said they would cooperate with the Health Deparment and send a sample to the Chemistry Department to find out the contents of the product.
He said further investigations would be carried out under Section 8(2)(b) of the Trade Description Act 2011.
Chin said consumers should be very careful when they are approached by agents or wholesalers, offering them goods at low prices, as more often than not, such products may be fake.
"For the health drink which we confiscated, we found several marked differences from the actual product, among others, the smell, the thickness of the drink and the faded packaging.
"Besides, consumers can also differentiate an actual product from a fake product by using the QR Code feature," he advised.