Dietary supplement leaves 4 dead, 100 sick in Japan
Akihiro Kobayashi, President of Kobayashi Pharmaceutical Co., left, bows during a press conference in Osaka, on March 22, 2024. - Chiaki Ueda/Kyodo News via AP
ISTANBUL: At least four people have died and 100 others hospitalised after consuming a dietary supplement in Japan, local media reported on Thursday.
The manufacturer Kobayashi Pharmaceutical Co. confirmed the deaths linked to its red yeast rice dietary supplements, Anadolu Agency quoted Tokyo-based Kyodo News said.
The manufacturer has recalled five of its products, including about 300,000 packages of its "Beni-Koji Cholesterol Help" supplements.
Two of the deceased had consumed the supplement in 2021 and early 2022, it reported.
The Health Ministry, which suspects the presence of a "toxic substance" in the product, also held a hearing with the Osaka-based pharmaceutical officials regarding the alarming health issues due to the supplements that caused kidney-related problems after their consumption.
The company was unable to come up with a specific cause of the problems.
Local authorities in the Osaka province on the main Honshu Islands of Japan Wednesday ordered Kobayashi Pharmaceutical to recall three other types of "Beni-Koji" supplements.
-- BERNAMA
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