Fake Zam-Buk swamps store shelves

Pharmaceutical company Bayer believes that there are more than two million counterfeit tins of Zam-Buk on the market.

The company has been flooded with calls from panicked consumers after newspaper advertisements warned of the fakes.

Spokesman Brian Moloto said: “We advise people who have been using fake Zam-Buk to immediately see their doctor as a precaution because we do not know what ingredients it contains.”

He asked buyers of the fake product — which is packed in 7g tins, is not green like the original and smells different — to contact the company so that its representatives can collect the tins.

Beyer changed the design of the Zam Buk tin last year after discovering that counterfeiters had duplicated it.

Medicines Control Council spokesman Griffith Molewa said many small-scale industries and established manufacturers around the world supplied counterfeit medicines to South Africa.

“There is little information about the scale of counterfeited medical products available in this country, or about where they originate, but they pose a serious threat to health and can result in death,” said Molewa.

Source: The Times

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