From: Nah Kok Wai via email
A recent hot topic discussed in social media was about a certain water filter that produces “miracle water” that can treat 150 chronic illnesses. One would be skeptical when they hear about products which sound too good to be true, but then there is endorsement from a research university, Universiti Sains Malaysia. Not convinced? Well, the famous Siti Nurhaliza has also given her approval. This miracle water must work! Why even go to hospitals?
Although the issue came to the people’s attention recently, this water filter has been around for quite some time. Besides the I-Mizu brand that was recently shown in the news, there are many other brands of this “miracle” alkaline water.
Forum Air Malaysia, as a consumer association, has previously received complaints regarding similar alkaline water in which consumers complained about experiencing discomfort in their stomachs a month after having consumed the alkaline water. There are also those who have lost their lives because they stopped taking their medicine due to their trust in this “miracle water”. However, these cases remain in the dark because the cause of death was not the water itself.
Are the health claims by these water filter companies legit? So far, no credible agency can confirm it, but at the same time no one is denying these health claims either. Yet, we have consumers paying up to RM20,000 for one unit.
Attempts have been made to engage the authorities. According to their official reply letter, the Ministry of Domestic Trade, Co-operatives and Consumerism issue licences to sell such products as long as health claims are not stated in their advertisements. The Ministry of Health on the other hand does not currently have any regulations for this type of water filter. Therefore it is actually legal to sell these water filters in Malaysia because there are no physical copies of the advertisements.
This is like a blind spot for regulators, one that companies can freely exploit. It is a water filter, but it is said to be able to produce water that is as good as medicine, so, which agency should take the lead on this issue?
We have also personally engaged one of the agents to learn more about this “miracle water”, and have seen firsthand how good these agents are at marketing their product. Even if the health claims sound ridiculous, the agents are able to communicate the health benefits very convincingly, because they themselves are convinced that the product they sell is good. Can we really blame agents in this situation?
What we need now is verification of the health claims of these water filters. We also need the authorities to be able to take action if the health claims are given verbally, online or via WhatsApp chats. The current situation simply does not give adequate protection to consumers, so we urge the authorities to further look into this issue.
Nah Kok Wai is Research and Policy Executive of Forum Air Malaysia.
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