China News Service, March 29. According to the Japan Broadcasting Association (NHK), on the 29th, Japan's Kobayashi Pharmaceutical Company announced that another person died after taking health products containing red yeast rice produced by the company. The number of related deaths Has increased to 5 people.
Image source: Screenshot of Japan Broadcasting Association (NHK) report
According to reports, Kobayashi Pharmaceutical stated that the family of the deceased contacted the company, saying that the deceased died after developing symptoms of suspected kidney disease after taking health products containing red yeast rice ingredients. This is similar to the cause of death of the previous four deceased people.
In addition, 93 people are receiving hospitalization for the same reason.
Japan's Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Tetsushi Sakamoto said on the 29th that he has ordered Kobayashi Pharmaceutical to fully recall related products to avoid further expansion of the problem of consumer health damage.
On the 28th, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida also stated on this matter that efforts must be made to find out the cause and consider taking all necessary countermeasures.
According to previous reports, Kobayashi Pharmaceutical decided to urgently recall three of its health products containing red yeast rice on March 22. The company said the problem may have been caused by an "unexpected" ingredient from mold mixed into the product, but it has not yet figured out what the ingredient was.
In addition to its own production of health products, the red yeast raw materials produced by Kobayashi Pharmaceutical are also sold to other companies for use in brewing and food manufacturing. The current recall scope of foods and seasonings using red yeast rice ingredients produced by Kobayashi Pharmaceutical has been expanded to cover Japan.