Buying guide
Royal honey in Malaysia, explained
What is royal honey in Malaysia?
"Royal honey" is a marketing name, not a grade of honey. The US FDA describes these sachets as "a product promoted and sold for sexual enhancement on various websites", and has found undeclared prescription drugs in named examples. No Malaysian regulator has named such a honey.
What exactly is sold as "royal honey"?
A single-serve stick or sachet, under a name no food standard defines. The phrase is the seller's own: it describes the marketing, not the contents. The US FDA characterises each of them the same way: "a product promoted and sold for sexual enhancement on various websites".
What have regulators actually found inside them?
Undeclared prescription drugs, in specific named products. FDA's finding is that "product samples contained active drug ingredients not listed on the product labels, including the active drug ingredients found in Cialis (tadalafil) and Viagra (sildenafil)". Its tainted honey-based products list runs to two dozen entries.
Why did French Customs name Malaysia?
Because of where the sticks were declared to come from. A French Customs alert of 20 January 2025 records a Marseille seizure in November 2024 of "nearly 860,000 sticks, or more than 13 tons of so-called aphrodisiac honey", from Malaysia. Substances found across its cases: "Sildenafil or Tadalafil".
Has a Malaysian regulator ever named a honey like this?
No. The Health Ministry's list of products detected containing banned substances carries exactly one honey — MADU ADUNAN HERBA — and the substance recorded against it is dexamethasone, not an erectile-dysfunction drug. NPRA's adulterated-products page names no honey either. Malaysian honey findings are of another kind: 769 samples tested for composition.
What does the number on the pack tell you?
Which regulator it answers to, and whether an advertisement was cleared. A registered product carries a MAL number, an approved advertisement carries a KKLIU number, and an ordinary food carries neither — the Health Ministry's position is that food and drink products need no registration with it.
What a pack can carry
MAL, eight digits, then A, X, T or N
- Where it belongs
- On the product
- What it tells you
- NPRA registered it; the letter says which kind
KKLIU, four digits, then a year
- Where it belongs
- On the advertisement
- What it tells you
- The advert was cleared, not the product
No number at all
- Where it belongs
- On a food
- What it tells you
- Not registered, and not meant to be
| What you see | Where it belongs | What it tells you |
|---|---|---|
| MAL, eight digits, then A, X, T or N | On the product | NPRA registered it; the letter says which kind |
| KKLIU, four digits, then a year | On the advertisement | The advert was cleared, not the product |
| No number at all | On a food | Not registered, and not meant to be |
Check it yourself: NPRA's public QUEST3+ search says whether a registration exists, and a registered pack carries a FarmaTag hologram. Where there is no number, the checkable part is the printed panel on the label.
What may a honey sold in Malaysia say about itself?
Nothing about treating anybody. Malaysia's labelling rules bar a claim that a food is suitable "in the prevention, alleviation, treatment or cure of a disease, disorder or particular physiological condition", and the Food Act carries that into advertising. The Medicines (Advertisement and Sale) Act 1956 reaches any article advertised as a remedy for "improving the sexual function or sexual performance of human beings".
The safety record on these sachets is a separate question. To buy honey in person, the shops that stock SUBUR are listed.
Check the pack, then check the register
A number on a wrapper verifies in a minute. Read the printed panel, not the front, and buy where you can walk back in.
See where to buyFrequently asked questions
What is royal honey?
A sachet or stick sold under a name no food standard defines. The US FDA describes each of these products as "a product promoted and sold for sexual enhancement on various websites". The name is the seller's own, not a food standard's.
Is royal honey banned in Malaysia?
The Health Ministry publishes a list of products detected containing banned substances, and exactly one honey appears on it: MADU ADUNAN HERBA, recorded against dexamethasone. No Malaysian regulator has published a finding of sildenafil or tadalafil in a honey sold here.
Has the FDA found drugs in royal honey?
In specific named products, yes. FDA says ETUMAX VIP Royal Honey for Him "contains sildenafil and tadalafil", and that Vital Honey "contains tadalafil, the active ingredient in the FDA-approved prescription drug Cialis". Each notification names one product, and the list runs to two dozen.
Is there a Malaysian case of honey containing sildenafil?
None has been published. The nearest thing on the Malaysian record is a registered herbal product, Nan Bao Capsule, whose registration NPRA cancelled in March 2019 after sildenafil and tadalafil were detected. That was a capsule, not a honey product.
What is the difference between a MAL number and a KKLIU number?
A MAL number is NPRA's registration, printed on the product: MAL, eight digits, then a letter — A or X for medicines, T for a registered herbal medicine, N for a health supplement. A KKLIU number is an advertising approval instead.
Does honey sold as a food need to be registered with the ministry?
No. The Health Ministry's position is that food and drink products need no registration with it. Registration belongs to products with an active ingredient, a pharmaceutical dosage form such as a capsule or tablet, or a medicinal claim. Those answer to NPRA.
