Fake food and cosmetic products in Thai markets

Thai PBS is reporting that the FTI’s food supplements industry club is coming under scrutiny following police and officials from the Food and Drugs Administration raided several major manufacturing plants and found huge quantities of substandard and fake cosmetic and food supplements.

The Federation of Thai Industries is claiming that 40% of food supplements and cosmetic products sold in markets were found to be fake and contaminated.

Related story HERE.

Some products have even found to be contaminated with substances or precursors for the production of methamphetamine.

The club president Mr Nakan Tawichawat said the FTI’s food supplements club has held talks with the FDA to establish the situation between the production of fake pharmaceuticals, which attract a lengthy jail term, and manufacturing fake or substandard food supplements only face closure.

He says FDA officials have found some of the food supplements contain a mixture of “Sibutramine”, an appetite suppressant for dieting which is also a precursor in producing methamphetamine.

He claims that up to 40% of the cosmetic and food supplements products sold online and in markets are “substandard and counterfeit”, especially food supplements.

He also says that some whitening creams are contaminated with heavy metals while some coffee brands had mixtures of Chinese-made Viagra and Orlistat, a drug designed to treat obesity.

Thailand’s cosmetic and food supplement market is now worth almost 100 billion baht a year, up from just a billion baht a year a decade ago. The FTI claim that there are over 1,000 factories producing quality standard products but over 10,000 factories that would not pass any rigorous inspection or compliance checks.

GS1 Thailand, a non-profit organisation, will soon allow producers of cosmetic products and food supplements to apply for “Dragon Code” which will enable consumers to differentiate authentic products from counterfeits sold in the markets.

Worried about the food or health supplements you’re buying? Check THIS list of things to check. For cosmetic products, research the claims they are making, put your vanity to one side, and make an informed decision.

PHOTO: Thai PBS

SOURCES: Thai PBS, The Thaiger