All three supplements contain “beni koji” - rice fermented with red yeast – an ingredient said to lower cholesterol levels that is traditionally used in food seasoning and preservation, and rice wine production. Kobayashi Pharmaceutical’s website says its beni koji products use a strain of bacteria in fermentation that does not produce citrinin. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Thursday said the government was investigating the deaths and the suspected link to beni koji, adding it was prepared to act. Across the Taiwan Strait, the island’s Food and Drug Administration ordered distributors to suspend the import of more than 150 products containing beni koji, including those made by Kobayashi. And in Singapore, authorities recalled a sparkling sake, a type of rice wine, by Kyoto-based Takara Shuzo, which uses beni koji in its production.

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