Japanese authorities yesterday ordered drugmaker Kobayashi Pharmaceutical to recall three dietary supplement products containing red yeast rice, or “beni-koji,” after they were linked to two deaths and more than 100 hospitalizations, while in Taipei, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has recalled 121 products containing the yeast.
Two Taiwanese importers of red yeast rice products made by Kobayashi had issued recalls, FDA Director-General Wu Shou-mei (吳秀梅) told a weekly news briefing.
New Taipei City-based SHS Biotech Co (三合興產業股份) recalled 405kg of its ingredients, while Taichung-based Healthtake Corp (和司特) recalled more than 3,000kg from its 39 downstream businesses, Wu said.
Photo: AP
As of 9pm on Tuesday, 31 companies and suppliers voluntarily reported their products containing red yeast rice ingredients and removed them from shelves, she said.
In Japan, at least 106 people have been hospitalized, and many more are believed to have been sickened, after taking Kobayashi’s supplements, which were marketed as helping to lower cholesterol levels, the government said.
Medical studies describe red yeast rice as an alternative to statins for lowering high cholesterol, but also warn of a risk of organ damage depending on its chemical makeup.
Photo: EPA-EFE
“The total number of suspected deaths [is now] two,” while “106 cases of potentially linked hospitalization also came to light,” Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters.
It is unclear if all the illnesses are directly linked to beni-koji.
Beni-koji contains Monascus purpureus, a red mold that is also used as a red coloring in some foods.
Kobayashi this week urged 52 manufacturers to recall a wide range of products, and in addition to its products, more than 40 others from other companies containing beni-koji — including miso paste, crackers and a vinegar dressing — were recalled, starting last week, a Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare official said.
The official warned that there could be more victims in the days ahead. He asked everyone to stop ingesting anything with beni-koji in it.
Those with health problems, such as weak kidneys, could be especially vulnerable, he said.
Additional reporting by AFP
AT RISK: The council reiterated that people should seriously consider the necessity of visiting China, after Beijing passed 22 guidelines to punish ‘die-hard’ separatists The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has since Jan. 1 last year received 65 petitions regarding Taiwanese who were interrogated or detained in China, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. Fifty-two either went missing or had their personal freedoms restricted, with some put in criminal detention, while 13 were interrogated and temporarily detained, he said in a radio interview. On June 21 last year, China announced 22 guidelines to punish “die-hard Taiwanese independence separatists,” allowing Chinese courts to try people in absentia. The guidelines are uncivilized and inhumane, allowing Beijing to seize assets and issue the death penalty, with no regard for potential
STILL COMMITTED: The US opposes any forced change to the ‘status quo’ in the Strait, but also does not seek conflict, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said US President Donald Trump’s administration released US$5.3 billion in previously frozen foreign aid, including US$870 million in security exemptions for programs in Taiwan, a list of exemptions reviewed by Reuters showed. Trump ordered a 90-day pause on foreign aid shortly after taking office on Jan. 20, halting funding for everything from programs that fight starvation and deadly diseases to providing shelters for millions of displaced people across the globe. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who has said that all foreign assistance must align with Trump’s “America First” priorities, issued waivers late last month on military aid to Israel and Egypt, the
‘UNITED FRONT’ FRONTS: Barring contact with Huaqiao and Jinan universities is needed to stop China targeting Taiwanese students, the education minister said Taiwan has blacklisted two Chinese universities from conducting academic exchange programs in the nation after reports that the institutes are arms of Beijing’s United Front Work Department, Minister of Education Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) said in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper) published yesterday. China’s Huaqiao University in Xiamen and Quanzhou, as well as Jinan University in Guangzhou, which have 600 and 1,500 Taiwanese on their rolls respectively, are under direct control of the Chinese government’s political warfare branch, Cheng said, citing reports by national security officials. A comprehensive ban on Taiwanese institutions collaborating or
France’s nuclear-powered aircraft carrier and accompanying warships were in the Philippines yesterday after holding combat drills with Philippine forces in the disputed South China Sea in a show of firepower that would likely antagonize China. The Charles de Gaulle on Friday docked at Subic Bay, a former US naval base northwest of Manila, for a break after more than two months of deployment in the Indo-Pacific region. The French carrier engaged with security allies for contingency readiness and to promote regional security, including with Philippine forces, navy ships and fighter jets. They held anti-submarine warfare drills and aerial combat training on Friday in
RSS