The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said that as of yesterday, it had received 58 reports of suspected adverse reactions after taking supplements produced by Japanese drugmaker Kobayashi Pharmaceutical Co that contained red yeast rice, but its investigation of 54 cases had found no link between consumption of the products and suspected illnesses.
Japanese authorities last month ordered Kobayashi to recall three dietary supplements containing red yeast rice, or beni-koji,” after they were linked to deaths and hospitalizations.
Kobayashi said that as of Thursday last week, the number of deaths suspected to be linked to ingestion of the supplement remained at five, while 240 people had been hospitalized, and 1,434 people were seeing or hoping to see a doctor, the Japan Times reported on Saturday last week.
Photo: CNA
The company has received 88,000 inquiries about health damage from the supplements, it added.
Although none of the Kobayashi products recalled in Japan had been imported into Taiwan, two Taiwanese companies had imported 56 batches of red yeast rice ingredients from Kobayashi from Jan. 1, 2022, to March 22 this year, the FDA said earlier.
The two companies began pre-emptively recalling products containing the red yeast rice ingredient after reports of the deaths in Japan.
As of yesterday, 58 people in Taiwan had reported having adverse reactions after taking Kobayashi supplements containing red yeast rice, FDA Food Safety Division Deputy Director Cheng Wei-chih (鄭維智) said.
Some of the 58 said they had bought the products —which were later recalled — in Japan, while others said they had consumed local products containing Kobayashi’s red yeast rice ingredient, Cheng said.
Most of the consumers experienced impaired renal function, including reduced estimated glomerular filtration rate and tea-
colored or foamy urine, he said.
The FDA on Friday last week held a meeting to discuss 54 of the cases, with the experts concluding that they “could not yet determine the causation” based on the information available, he said.
The FDA will pass the information it has to the Executive Yuan’s Consumer Protection Committee to help it deal with consumer disputes, Cheng said.
People who purchased products containing Kobayashi’s red yeast rice are advised to first contact the companies to ask for a refund for refund, and if the issue cannot be settled, they can file a complaint with the Consumer Protection Committee, the Consumers’ Foundation or the Consumer Protection Association in Taiwan, he said.
In other news, with several cases of norovirus cluster infections being reported, the FDA warned that noroviruses are very contagious and primarily transmitted through the fecal-oral route.
People are advised to practice good personal hygiene, including washing their hands with soap before meals and after using the toilet, it said.
People should avoid eating undercooked food, especially raw or undercooked shellfish or seafood products harvested from contaminated waters, it said, adding that people should keep their environment clean.
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