Day by day, the health scandal is getting worse.
A Japanese pharmaceutical group said on Tuesday it was investigating a death due to kidney dysfunction, potentially linked to food supplements for which it had announced a recall last week.
He had already recognized in recent days that the hospitalization of several dozen people could be linked to the consumption of these products.
“We are aware of one case with a potential causal link between a death and our product,” Kobayashi Pharmaceutical said in a statement.
“We are currently investigating this link and what happened,” added the group, based in Osaka, in the west of the country, presenting its “deepest apologies”.
The deceased, whose identity has not been released, allegedly bought these compliments continuously for about three years, according to Japanese news agency Kyodo News.
Local media also reported that company officials would visit the victim's family on Tuesday.
Reduce “bad cholesterol”
If this is the first time that the company has reported a case of death possibly linked to its products, Kobayashi Pharmaceutical had already recognized on Monday that the hospitalization of 26 people was possibly linked to some of its food supplements, sold without a prescription.
According to Kyodo News, the company has since reported 50 additional hospitalizations of consumers who used its products.
The three recalled supplements contain a type of yeast-fermented rice called “beni koji,” which is believed to reduce “bad cholesterol.”
The pharmaceutical group began marketing these products in 2021, and has since sold more than a million packages, according to Japanese media.
Also read: Food supplements: a thriving market, despite consumption that is sometimes dangerous for health
Kobayashi Pharmaceutical said Monday that no conclusions had been drawn regarding a possible cause and effect link between its food supplements and hospitalizations.
“After analysis, we found that it was possible that the raw materials used to make beni koji contained ingredients that our company did not intend to include,” the group admitted, however.
It also reported Friday that 13 people had developed kidney disease and other health problems after consuming its supplements.
Doubt surrounding these products arose in January, after a doctor noticed several pathologies linked to these supplements, according to The Japan Times.
The majority of patients suffer from swelling, fatigue and reduced kidney function.
Sake and cheese crackers recalled
The food supplements in question were supplied to around fifty companies in Japan and around the world, according to public television channel NHK.
The number of companies using these products could be even higher, according to Japanese media, with wholesalers among the group's customers.
Kobayashi Pharmaceutical has asked all these companies to voluntarily recall all other products using the same ingredient, as the incident affected a wide range of foods, from sake and confectionery to bread and miso, beni koji was also used as a coloring or flavoring.
She urged the population more widely to no longer consume products containing the substance, according to NHK.
Two companies have already launched voluntary recalls, according to the Japanese chain: the drinks manufacturer Takara Shuzo, for its “Mio Premium Rose” sake, and the online seller Zero Plus, which withdrew cheese crackers from sale.