On October 10, it was learned that the Osaka municipal government had classified as food poisoning an incident in which Japanese pharmaceutical company Kobayashi’s health products containing red koji ingredients caused health damage to consumers under the Japanese food hygiene law.
People have died or been hospitalized with kidney problems after taking a health product made by Kobayashi that contains red yeast. As of 22 August, the number of deaths under investigation suspected to be related to the product had risen to 119. Japanese pharmaceutical company Kobayashi said Sept. 18 that its health-care products containing red yeast were Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare to harm consumers, it has been confirmed that the“Soft hair penicillin acid” detected in the affected raw materials is the cause of health damage.