Japanese pharmaceutical company Kobayashi Pharmaceutical announced on June 28 that it had identified 76 more deaths potentially linked to the consumption of its food supplements based on red yeast rice, at the center of a health scandal in Japan.
In April the company reported five deaths potentially linked to its supplements, which have since been withdrawn from the market. The figure was later reduced to four.
With the 76 new cases the total therefore rises to eighty. Hundreds of people were hospitalized instead.
“The causes of the deaths have yet to be verified by doctors,” a Japanese health ministry official told AFP on June 28.
According to Kobayashi Pharmaceutical, its supplements made from red yeast rice – known as beni you – they naturally reduce cholesterol, although some studies have shown that they are potentially harmful to the liver and kidneys.
“It appears that in some cases the consumption of our supplements produces indirect negative effects on the health of people, especially those suffering from other pathologies,” the company admitted in a statement.
The company hypothesizes that the deaths and hospitalizations are linked to the presence of puberulic acid, a toxic substance naturally produced by a mold.
In March, Kobayashi Pharmaceutical, based in Osaka, recalled three types of offending products from the market.
However, the company had received reports of kidney problems potentially linked to the consumption of its supplements as early as January.
Since the beginning of the year, the company’s shares have lost 22 percent of their value on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
