Over 100 food products preemptively recalled following red yeast rice case

Taipei, March 27 (CNA) The Taiwan Food and Drug Administration (TFDA) has recalled 121 food products containing red yeast rice following reports from Japan of consumers experiencing kidney problems.

At a weekly press briefing, TFDA Director-General Wu Shou-mei (吳秀梅) said that two Taiwanese importers of red yeast rice products made by Kobayashi Pharmaceuticals had issued recalls.

According to Wu, New Taipei-based SHS Biotech Co. Ltd. recalled 405 kilograms of its ingredients, while Taichung-based Healthtake Corporation recalled over 3,000 kilograms from its 39 downstream businesses.

Wu added that as of 9 p.m. on Tuesday, a total of 31 relevant companies and suppliers voluntarily reported their products containing red yeast rice ingredients and actively removed them from shelves.

The suspected problematic food products totaled 121, Wu said, adding that the list of products has been published on TFDA's website. (https://www.fda.gov.tw/tc/siteContent.aspx?sid=12919)

According to TFDA, the products listed included DHC's "concentrated red yeast rice capsules" and Watsons Taiwan's "natto red yeast rice Q10 capsules," with some of the companies offering return and refund services.

Meanwhile, regarding relevant products in Japan, Wu stated that as of 6 p.m. Tuesday, a total of 26 companies in Japan had actively recalled 49 products.

Wu added that TFDA has sent a request to Japan to provide a list of products containing the problematic ingredients by Kobayashi Pharmaceuticals.

TFDA has also asked the Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association to facilitate communication and provide further information, Wu said.

Also on Wednesday, Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare said that the nutritional supplements by Kobayashi Pharmaceuticals caused one more death in the country, bringing the total to two, while hospitalizations reached 106.

The drugmaker has also faced administrative punishments from its government in accordance with Japan's food safety regulations, being requested to recall products containing red yeast rice.

Meanwhile, according to Japanese media, the Japanese drugstore company DHC Corporation will take preventive measures to remove its nutritional supplements, the "concentrated red yeast rice capsules" containing red yeast rice ingredients from Kobayashi Pharmaceuticals, sold in Taiwan from shelves and will provide refunds to customers.

DHC Taiwan Inc. also issued a statement on Monday that customers who previously purchased the company's "concentrated red yeast rice capsules" can get a refund by returning the original packaging and invoice through the original purchase channel.