TOKYO (Reuters) – Health authorities searched a second pharmaceutical factory in Kobayashi, western Japan, on Sunday after the company reported five deaths possibly linked to dietary supplements, an official said.
The inspection in Wakayama Prefecture follows one in Osaka on Saturday, broadening the investigation into the pharmaceutical company’s use of red yeast “Beni-Koji”.
Osaka-based Kobayashi said it found what appeared to be potentially toxic puberulic acid that could have been produced by the blue mold penicillium in Beni-Koji materials produced between last April and October at the Osaka factory.
As of Friday, 114 people had been hospitalized and five had died after taking the supplements, which were marketed to help lower cholesterol levels, the company said.
The cause of death has not been confirmed, the official from Japan’s Ministry of Health and Welfare told Reuters. But “it is suspected that the cause could be Beni-Koji, which is why we inspected two factories in two days.”
Kobayashi said Friday that he was investigating a suspected link between the products and their effects on the kidneys as he received reports of kidney disease linked to the products.
“We will fully cooperate with the investigation so that we can resolve the issues as soon as possible,” Kobayashi’s head of investor relations, Yuko Tomiyama, told reporters on Sunday in footage shown by public broadcaster NHK.
The health official said the ministry “will join with other relevant ministries to do our best to resolve the ongoing case, while at the same time asking Kobayashi Pharma to cooperate, if necessary, in examining the case.”
The factory in Osaka’s Yodogawa neighborhood was closed in December due to outdated facilities and production was moved to the plant in the city of Kinokawa that was raided on Sunday, Japanese media reported.
The government criticized the company for taking two months to announce the health impacts of its products. Kobayashi began recalling the products on March 22 after receiving reports of kidney problems.
Its products are also consumed in other countries.
Japanese media reported that a case of acute kidney failure has been reported in Taiwan. Taiwan’s Food and Drug Administration is investigating three “unexpected health reactions” that may be related to materials imported from Kobayashi, Taiwan’s official Central News Agency reported.
A Chinese consumer association urged consumers to stop using potentially affected products, saying it was concerned about the risk of Kobayashi products, state media reported on Friday.
Japan’s health ministry is aware of the Taiwanese cases, the official said, declining to comment further on any international cases.
South Korea’s Ministry of Food and Drug Safety has released the list of 182 recalled Japanese products from Kobayashi and other companies that contain red yeast rice, asking consumers not to purchase such items online.
The South Korean ministry said on Friday that authorities would dispose of or return shipments related to the Kobayashi case to customs. It did not respond to a request for further comment outside normal business hours.
Kobayashi wholesales Beni-Koji to 52 companies, which conducted voluntary inspections and found no materials requiring medical advice as of Friday, NHK said. These companies sell the materials to 173 others, he said.
TV Asahi reported that around 1,800 food producers could be affected.
Beni-Koji contains Monascus purpureus, a red mold used as a food coloring.