A recent hot topic discussed in social media is about a certain water filter which can produce ‘miracle water’ which can treat 150 chronic illnesses. One would be sceptical when one hears 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 singer 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, it has actually 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 where consumers feel discomfort in their stomach after about a month consuming the said 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, the case remains in the dark because the cause of death was not the water itself.

Are the health claims from these water filter companies actually 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 of such water filter devices.

Attempts have been made to engage the authorities. According to their official reply letter, the Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Ministry will give a license to sell such products as long as these health claims are not in their advertisements.

The Health Ministry, 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 regulations, 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 first-hand how good these agents are at marketing their product. Even if the health claims sound ridiculous, the agents are able to sound very convincing, 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 for these water filters. We also need the authorities to be able to take action if the health claims were given verbally, online or even in WhatsApp chats. The current situation simply does not give enough protection for consumers, so we urge the authorities to further look into this issue.

NAH KOK WAI is research and policy executive, Forum Air Malaysia.