In Japan, two people died and 106 were hospitalized after consuming food supplements with rice fermented with red yeast. This was reported by the Kyodo news agency, according to UNN .
Details
The manufacturer of the dietary supplement is the pharmaceutical company Kobayashi Pharmaceutical. It reported that one person who had been taking the Beni-Koji food additive for about three years had died of kidney disease. The second death was reported to the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare during a hearing at the company.
The government said it would conduct an emergency inspection of this type of dietary supplement, which includes about 6,000 products. Kobayashi Pharmaceutical has already recalled five types of supplements, including about 300,000 packs of Beni-Koji Cholesterol Help. These dietary supplements, as the company claimed, help to lower cholesterol levels.
Context
The Beni-Koji Cholesterol Help dietary supplement appeared on store shelves in February 2021. Since then, Kobayashi Pharmaceutical has sold about 1.06 million packs. The company has also supplied Beni-Koji red yeast rice as a food ingredient to 52 firms in Japan and abroad.
Kobayashi Pharmaceutical urged its partners to withdraw from sale any products with Beni-Koji in the list of ingredients.