How do I check if a product is KKM approved?
There is no single KKM list. The Ministry of Health (KKM) keeps several registers, run by different bodies, and which one applies depends on the product. The steps are short.
- Decide what the product is: a cream or other cosmetic, a medicine such as an injection, a prescription cream or a weight-loss pen, or a device such as a filler.
- Find the number on the box: a notification number starting NOT, a MAL number, or a device registration.
- Search that number on the matching register.
- Check that the name, maker and use on the entry match the box in your hand.
- If anything does not match, or there is no number, treat the product as unverified and ask the seller or doctor before using it.
The doctor is a separate check. This article covers the product, and how to check an aesthetic doctor in Malaysia covers the person.
Why "KKM approved" is not one check
Cosmetics are notified. Medicines are registered. Medical devices are registered under a separate body. The word "approved" fits none of them exactly, and a seller who says "KKM approved" has not said which register the product is on. Asking which number it has, and what kind of number, is a fair question.
Creams and other cosmetics: the notification number
A cosmetic is not approved before sale. NPRA's cosmetic guidelines require the notification holder to notify NPRA before manufacturing, selling, supplying or importing a cosmetic product, and each product receives a notification number in the format NOT, then a year and month, then a serial number, ending in K.
Search the number, or the product name, on the NPRA QUEST3+ product search. The same search covers medicines and cosmetics, so there is no separate cosmetic page to find. A product with no notification number on the label, or a number that returns nothing, is unverified.
A notification can be cancelled. NPRA publishes a list of cosmetics whose notification was cancelled after scheduled poisons were found in them, by year and running into 2026. The substances named include mercury, hydroquinone, tretinoin and betamethasone, and NPRA advises the public to avoid buying and using those products. A cream that was notified once can therefore be on that list later, so a number found today is a starting point and the cancellation list is the second look. How a mercury cream is spotted, and what it can do, is set out in whitening creams and mercury: how to check a cream.
Injections, prescription creams and weight-loss pens: the MAL number
A medicine must be registered with NPRA before it is sold, including medicines made abroad. A registered medicine carries a MAL registration number: the letters MAL, eight digits, and a letter showing the category. It also carries a hologram security label. The Ministry says a product with neither is suspected of being unregistered.
This group includes botulinum toxin (sold as Botox among other brands), prescription creams such as tretinoin, and weight-loss pens containing semaglutide (sold as Ozempic and Wegovy) or tirzepatide (sold as Mounjaro). Search the MAL number on the same NPRA QUEST3+ product search, or in the NPRA Product Status app, and compare the product name and maker on the entry with the box. After the number, the Ministry advises having a pharmacist check the hologram.
Where each type is covered in more depth: the botulinum toxin brands compared, where GLP-1 medicines can legally be obtained in Malaysia, and what Malaysian law lets you buy in tretinoin, retinol and adapalene.
Fillers and skinboosters: the device register
A dermal filler is a medical device, and so are the hyaluronic acid and polynucleotide skinboosters that were checked for the skinbooster types article. Devices are listed on the Medical Device Authority (MDA) register at mdar.mda.gov.my, which can be searched by brand name, registration number or company name. For injectables in particular, how to check whether a botulinum toxin or skinbooster is registered goes into more detail.
The register's own note says that if a device does not appear in the results, it is unregistered, expired, suspended or cancelled. A different spelling can also return a blank, so try the registration number as well. A box with a MAL number and a hologram instead is a medicine, and belongs on the NPRA search above.
What about the "pen kurus Reta"?
Retatrutide, known in the "pen kurus" market as "Reta", has no registered product in Malaysia. On 28 August 2026 the Ministry of Health said that, as of 17 August 2026, no product containing retatrutide had been approved by the drug regulatory authority. The drug is still in phase three clinical trials and has no marketing approval from any regulator in the world. KKM advised the public not to buy or use weight-loss pens claimed to contain it, because unregistered products used without medical assessment and monitoring can cause serious side effects.
A pen that claims to be "Reta" therefore has no MAL number that can match a genuine entry. The check in this case ends before it starts.
What the check does not tell you
A number on a register shows that a product is listed. It does not show that the box in your hand is the genuine product. A registered medicine can be counterfeited, and a registered product can be stored badly or diluted wrongly. That is the reason for the hologram check, and the fake anti-wrinkle injection article describes what unlicensed or counterfeit injections have caused abroad.
The number also says nothing about whether this product suits the problem in front of you, and nothing about who is using it. A product check and a doctor check are two separate tasks, each with its own register.
Where do I report a suspect product or a side effect?
A suspected side effect of a registered medicine can be reported by anyone, online or on a form, through the NPRA consumer side-effect reporting page (ConSERF). That email address is only for registered medicines and vaccines.
A suspect or unregistered product, a misleading advertisement, or concerns about a practitioner go to the Ministry of Health Public Complaint Management System (SisPAA), according to NPRA's reporting page. For anything urgent, such as trouble breathing or swallowing or a spreading skin reaction, see a doctor or go to an emergency department first and report afterwards.
