The Prevalence of Acceptable Quality of Women Herbal Products Sold Online in Malaysia

Abstract

The aim of this study is to determine the prevalence of quality herbal products sold online in Malaysia. The quality of herbal products focuses on two specific issues which are the legality of the labelling on herbal products and microbial contamination in herbal products. Using keywords such as‘herbal products’, ‘jamu’, and ‘women herbal products’in Malaysian online stores, a total of 110herbal products were selected. Their labels were observed and analyzed. 90.1% of the selected products are registered and fulfilled the labelling guidelines as required by National Pharmaceutical Registration Authority (NPRA).We obtained 10 samples of the herbal products found for bacterial contamination analysis. Our results show thatall of the products contains gram-negative bacteria, but with anacceptablenumber of colony forming unit (CFU <107). It is also worth noting thatnone was contaminated with Escherichia coli, Salmonellasp.and Staphylococcusaureus.