TOKYO, April 8 (Xinhua) -- The number of people hospitalized in Japan due to health damage related to Kobayashi Pharmaceutical's dietary supplement containing red yeast rice, or beni-koji, had risen to 212, local media reported on Monday.
The figure was updated as of Sunday, with those who have since been discharged included, national news agency Kyodo reported citing the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.
The ministry, based on the report from Kobayashi Pharmaceutical, the manufacturer of the beni-koji ingredient, a total of 1,224 have sought medical attention as of Sunday, and about 53,000 inquiries have been directed to the company.
During interviews at Kobayashi Pharmaceutical's headquarters in Osaka on Saturday, discussions were held regarding the two-month gap the drugmaker took from identifying health damages to making them public, the health ministry added.
In an earlier interview with Xinhua, Hidetoshi Tashiro, chief economist at Japan's Sigma Capital Ltd., said that Kobayashi Pharmaceutical's food safety crisis also revealed organizational problems within the company.
The drugmaker, as a typical Japanese family-owned enterprise, might prioritize family interests over customer interests in decision-making, said Tashiro, adding that its failure to conduct immediate measures or report to authorities about health damage reports has exacerbated the crisis.
The Kyodo report noted that although the Food Sanitation Act requires businesses to make efforts to inform local authorities when health issues are identified, it is possible that the company was unaware of the situation.
The company's red yeast rice dietary supplement named Beni-koji Choleste Help has been associated with five deaths from kidney diseases.
The product, rolled out in February 2021, is a type of granules advertised with the effect of lowering LDL cholesterol levels, and were sold around 1 million packages by the end of February this year.
An unintended component called "puberulic acid," derived from blue mold, has been detected in the company's product manufactured at Kobayashi Pharmaceutical's Osaka factory, which shut down in December 2023, according to the health ministry and the company.
The substance is a potent antibacterial and antimalarial agent that can be toxic, but the extent to which its ingestion may pose health risks or cause kidney damage remains unclear, according to the ministry. ■
