KUALA LUMPUR: No company or distributor in Malaysia has obtained a licence for the import and sale of Zam Zam water.
Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the authorities would reject consignments for the import of the holy water.
"As such Zam Zam water (bottles/ packaged products) advertised or sold in the market is dubious in terms of its authenticity," he said, in a statement following news reports of the sale of the item online.
He said since 2012, RM83,618.20 worth of the Zam Zam water has been seized by the authorities.
He said the Food Safety and Quality Division, following rigorous screening of e-commerce platforms, has deleted 237 food advertisements from various sites for offences under the Food Act 1983 and the Food Regulations 1985.
He said out of these 237 deleted food advertisements, 32 of them were related to the illegal marketing of Zam Zam water.
The division's checks in 2021 and 2022 also led to a total of 23 and 40 zam zam water advertisements, respectively, being deleted from social media.
Under the Food Regulations 1985, any person convicted of selling packaged drinking water and unlicensed natural mineral water can be fined not more than RM10,000 or imprisoned not more than two (2) years.
The Health Ministry advises the public not to buy Zam Zam water from any online store or platform, especially during the haj season due to fears that item marketed is fake.
Zam Zam water is categorised as natural mineral water and is enshrined under Regulation 360A, Food Regulations 1985, said Dr Noor Hisham.
The import of natural mineral water requires a ministry water source license that entails a geological and hydrological authority's confirmation document from the exporting country.
Dr Noor Hisham said in this case, the Saudi Arabian government has never issued any such permit because Zam Zam water cannot be exported and traded.
Last month Saudi Arabia's General Civil Aviation authority also issued new guidelines, restricting Hajj and Umrah pilgrims from carrying Aab-e-Zamzam water bottles inside checked-in baggage back to their countries.
Dr Noor Hisham also said notices on the illegal nature sale of zam zam water has been made public since 2015 via similar statements.
The public has been called to report information related to the sale of zam zam water in shops or online platforms to the nearest District Health Office or State Health Department, or through their complaints website http://moh.spab.gov.my); or the division's Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/bkkmhq.