KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 22 — The Health Ministry today banned the sale of a beauty product by Malaysian manufacturers Qu Puteh for containing hazardous amounts of mercury. The Qu Puteh Whitening Pro 9, used for skin whitening, was said to contain high levels of mercury that could cause kidney and nerve damage. “The above mentioned product has been tested and found to contain mercury which is not allowed in cosmetics. As such, the Qu Puteh Whitening Pro 9 is not allowed to be sold in Malaysia,” Health Ministry director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said in a statement uploaded on the ministry’s website. The product could also stunt brain development in children and foetuses, he added. The ministry also received reports of users suffering from tinnitus, the ringing in the ears, as well as from hair fall but noted that the symptoms stopped once the users were no longer using the Qu Puteh Whitening Pro 9 product. Vendors with stock of the product were ordered to recall all of the tainted cosmetics within 72 hours or face legal action under the Control of Drugs and Cosmetics Regulations 1984. “Anyone with stock of the product are advised to stop selling, distributing and using the product immediately. “Individuals caught committing an offence under these guidelines will be fined RM25,000 or imprisonment not more than 3 years or both for the first offense and a fine not more than RM50,000 or imprisonment not more than 5 years or both for the following offence,” he said. Companies caught selling the product can also be fined up to RM50,000 for the first offence and fined up to RM100,000 for the following offence. This comes after the Brunei Health Ministry today banned the sale of three cosmetic products, two of which were from Qu Puteh, for containing harmful substances. The three banned products were Chantique Beauty Slimming Herbal capsules, Qu Puteh Kosmetik Whitening Pro 9 cream and Qu Puteh Kosmetik Whitening UV Block. - See more at: http://www.themalaymailonline.co ... thash.xCiyukTA.dpuf
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