KUALA LUMPUR, March 10 — A cosmetic product to treat pimples and acne scars, FS Turmeric Cream has been found to contain schedule poisons, mercury and betamethasone 17-valerate, which are harmful to health.

Health director-general, Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah in a statement today announced the notification of the cosmetic product has been cancelled by the Pharmaceutical Services director of the Health Ministry (MOH) and is not allowed to be sold in the country.

"Mercury is prohibited in cosmetic products because it is harmful to health. When absorbed into the body, mercury can cause damage to the kidney and nervous system.

"The substance can also affect the development of the brain in infants as well as causing rashes, irritation and changes to the skin. In this regard, the people are advised not to use the cosmetic product,” he said.    

He said the cream also contained betamethasone 17-valerate which is a medicine registered with the drug control authority and only could be used on the advice of a health professional.

The substance can cause side effects such thinning of the skin, irritation, or risk being absorbed into the blood stream.

In this regard, he said retailers and distributors of the cosmetic product have to remove the item from their shelves immediately.

Noor Hisham said selling and distributing the product would be violating the Control of Drugs and Cosmetics Regulations 1984.

According to him, individuals infringing the regulation can be fined not more than RM25,000 or jail not more than three years or both for the first offence and fine not more than RM50,000 or jail not more than five years or both for the subsequent offences.

Members of the public are encouraged to check the notification status of a cosmetic product by surfing the official website of the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency (NPRA) at ww.npra.gov.my or downloading the application of NPRA Product Status application which is available on Google Play Store. — Bernama