JAKARTA: An "antivirus necklace" has been redefined as a "health accessory" for aromatherapy by the Agriculture Ministry.
According to The Jakarta Post, the ministry retracted an earlier claim that the accessory, made from eucalyptus, can prevent Covid-19 transmission.
Agriculture Ministry Research and Development Department head Fadjry Djufry said the products, which include necklaces, roll-ons and mini inhalers, would not be marketed as having antiviral properties.
"There is no antiviral claim because the National Agency for Drug and Food Control (BPOM) classifies it as a herbal product," Fadjry said on Monday.
Fadjry added that BPOM required only laboratory and testimonial tests to classify herbal products, whereas products
with antiviral claims needed to undergo preclinical and clinical trials.
Photographs earlier published by the ministry showed the necklace with an "Anti-Virus Corona" label.
Fadjry said that label would be removed from the accessory.
Previously, Agriculture Minister Syahrul Yasin Limpo had claimed that eucalyptus products had been tested on influenza as well as beta and gamma coronaviruses and were able to kill 80 to 100 per cent of the viruses.
Fadjry said the ministry had yet to test the products' effectiveness on samples related to Covid-19.
He said they could be used to alleviate Covid-19 symptoms, such as breathing difficulties.
He also said the University of Indonesia and Hasanuddin University had offered to conduct tests on the eucalyptus-based inventions.
The ministry is looking to sell these overseas and has filed patents for the products in Singapore, Malaysia and India.
Experts have expressed scepticism about the efficacy of the eucalyptus-based treatments, saying that no drugs have been clinically proven to prevent or cure Covid-19 to date.