Malay Mail : 2 October 2006 

DIRECT Selling Association of Malaysia has maintained that its members do not make outlandish claims about their health products to dupe customers as alleged.

Its vice-president, Frederick Ng, said direct selling companies do not make baseless claims as all the benefits offered by their products are backed by clinical research.

He said in addition, all their products are vetted by the Health Ministry before they are made available to consumers.

“The Health Ministry has strict guidelines which we must adhere to. The Ministry will check our products before giving their go-ahead for us to sell them to consumers,” he said.

Ng was refuting the statement by Malaysian Dietary Supplement Association protem president Jagdev Singh in The Malay Mail on Sept 29, that some direct selling agents made outlandish claims about products which had very little effects or were of no use at all.

Jagdev, commenting on the heavy usage of health supplements by Malaysians, had also said that such irresponsible agents had created havoc in the industry for making baseless claims, affecting genuine players whose products were backed by clinical trials.

Jagdev had also urged consumers to be careful when buying health supplements from people whose only motivation was money.

Ng said the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry would also ensure that direct selling companies comply with Health Ministry regulations.

“For us to obtain our operating licence, we must ensure that our products are in compliance with Health Ministry regulations,” he said.

He added apart from that, the association also closely monitors its members.

“Any complaint received against our members or their products will be investigated thoroughly, and we have a code of conduct for our members to adhere to,” he said.

Ng said consumers are not forced to buy the members’ products.

“What we do is we explain to them the benefits of our products and let them decide.”