MANILA, Philippines – Even the Indonesian government has warned the public against Sehat Badan, an Indonesian coffee mixed with paracetamol that is sold illegally in the Philippines.

Indonesia’s food and drug monitoring agency BPOM released on November 26, 2014, a list of 51 traditional medicines (locally known as jamu) that are mixed with chemicals, including Sehat Badan.

Its manufacturer, Surabaya-based PJ Nyior Koneng, is not registered with BPOM. Even the registration number on its packaging (TR 00320841) is fake.

In the Philippines, Sehat Badan is still being sold illegally – particularly in Mindanao – reportedly for as low as P180 per box.

Online sellers of the coffee claim it can “treat various diseases” such as asthma, allergy, and hypertension, but this claim is not approved by the Philippines’ Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

In 2014, the FDA ordered its food and drug regulation officers to confiscate the unregistered food supplement which contains sugar (sucrose and fructose), Diclofenac sodium, Paracetamol and Ibuprofen.

Health hazard

The EcoWaste Coalition, an environment watchdog tracking hazardous products and waste, had earlier sounded the alarm over the sale of the product in the country and deplored its unlawful sale in Quiapo, Manila.

Thony Dizon, Coordinator of the EcoWaste Coalition’s Project Protect, had said that stalls at the Victory Lacson Underpass  in Quiapo sold Sehat Badan from P270 to P300 per box.

The group had earlier asked the Manila health authorities to conduct law enforcement operations to clear the area of hazardous products.

Rappler columnist Sylvia Claudio wrote that Sehat Badan is still available in the market. In fact, a frequent drinker of the coffee has recently been admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) of the Philippine General Hospital. (READ: Isang babala tungkol sa Sehat Badan coffee)

Some readers also complained about the harmful effects of the coffee on their relatives.

“Sehat Badan almost killed my Lolo. He used it for more than a year and was impressed about its effect on his arthritis,” Pao-pao Reyes wrote.

Reyes continued, “After a year, Lolo was rushed to the hospital, brought to the ICU and was diagnosed of having cardiomegaly or enlargement of the heart and this condition also killed some of his friends who have used Sehat Badan.”

Another reader, Rhodaviv Avila, claims the coffee has aggravated her father’s diabetes.

Claudio, a doctor of medicine, urged the FDA to act immediately to remove Sehat Badan from the Philippine market. – with a report from Jet Damazo-Santos/Rappler