Do not buy Zamzam water locally - MOH

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 6 -- The Health Ministry (MOH) has advised the public not to buy water labeled as zamzam water locally as it could be fake.

Its director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said zamzam water is categorised as natural mineral water and subjected to Regulation 360A of the Food Regulations Act 1985.

“The import of natural mineral water requires a MOH license on the water source that has been validated by the geology and hydrology authorities of the exporting country.

“In this case, the government of Saudi Arabia has never issued such validation because zamzam water cannot be traded. Therefore, no distributor or company has obtained a license for the import and sale of zamzam water,” he said in a statement here today.

He said the ministry through its Food Safety and Quality Division constantly enforces the ruling on the sale of  packet drinks and unlicensed natural mineral water.

“To date, RM77,358.30 worth of zamzam water has been confiscated through our enforcement efforts conducted since 2012,” he said.

 Dr Noor Hisham said anyone found guilty of selling unlicensed packet drinks and natural mineral water can be fined up to RM10,000 or jailed up to two years under the Food Regulations Act 1985.

The public is urged to channel any information on the sale of water labeled as zamzam water to the nearest district health office, state health department, or through http://moh.spab.gov.my or the BKKM official Facebook page.

Meanwhile, in KANGAR, commenting on the MOH ruling, Perlis Mufti, associate professor Datuk Dr Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin, has reminded Muslim product entrepreneurs not to exploit religion to make easy money.

He said the government could take action against those who use religion to boost the sale of their products.

“Do not capitalise on religion by saying that products such as drinks contain zamzam water when it is plain or chanted water as this would be cheating consumers,” he told reporters here today.

Mohd Asri  said the Department of Islamic Development Malaysia (JAKIM) and the Perlis Islamic Religious and Malay Customs Council (MAIPs) had previously issued a ruling prohibiting the use of the name ‘Islam’ to promote products like zamzam water.

“Zamzam water cannot be sold as it is given free by the Saudi Government but there are traders who impose fees for delivery costs, while some reap huge profits and do not provide the real zamzam water to consumers,” he said.

-- BERNAMA