The ministry’s Selangor enforcement chief, Abdul Rosik Yakub, said the seizures were made in an operation against the sale of such brushes without any label at hardware stores in the state.

“Hardware shops are free to sell these brushes but they must be labelled and kept separately to make it clear to consumers, especially Muslims,” he said to reporters.

He said the paintbrushes seized from the three premises, at Taman Sri Muda and Kota Kemuning, did not bear the A913 and A680 codes.

According to Jakim, the A913 and A680 codes on the brushes denote that they are made from pig bristles.

However, he said, the paintbrushes seized yesterday were not coded and would therefore be sent for laboratory tests to determine the origin of the bristles.

Rosik said the agency would intensify efforts to monitor the sale of paintbrushes in the interests of Muslim consumers.

Yesterday, it was reported that the ministry would inspect all hardware stores and supermarkets across the country for such paintbrushes.

The move was taken after paintbrushes sent for laboratory tests at the Universiti Putra Malaysia Halal Products Research Institute were certified to be made from pig bristles.