TAIPEI — A 70-year-old woman in Taiwan was diagnosed with acute kidney failure last year after consuming supplements using Kobayashi Pharmaceutical Co.’s “beni-koji” red yeast rice ingredient, local media including the United Daily News reported on March 28.
The health authorities stated that the causal relationship between the woman’s kidney problem and the red yeast rice is unknown but have indicated that they will cooperate with the investigation.
A family member of the woman, who lives in the southern Taiwan city of Kaohsiung, told the newspaper that the woman had for three or four years been taking supplements produced by a Taiwanese health food manufacturer that were made with Kobayashi Pharmaceutical’s beni-koji. She developed symptoms such as diarrhea around March 2023, and was diagnosed with acute kidney failure at a hospital. She has reportedly been undergoing dialysis since last May.
The Taiwanese manufacturer has already voluntarily recalled the product.
(Japanese original by Teppei Hayashi, Taipei Bureau)
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