Puberulinic acid was identified as the cause of health damage from Kobayashi Pharmaceutical's problematic health care products.

Japan's Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare said on the 18th that experiments have confirmed that puberulinic acid detected in raw materials of health care products containing red kojic of Kobayashi Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. is the cause of kidney dysfunction in consumers, and the other two originally "unexpected" substances have no kidney toxicity.

The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare speculated that the plant that produces red kojic mixed penicillium in the process of cultivating red kojic, producing puberulinic acid. The other two "unexpected" substances may be derived from Monacolin K, the active ingredient in red kojic health care products, under the action of penicillium. Earlier, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare and Osaka conducted an on-site inspection of Kobayashi Pharmaceutical's Osaka plant, which produces red kojic, and extracted penicillium from the culture room, etc. In addition, a Kobayashi Pharmaceutical subsidiary plant in Wakayama Prefecture was also inspected.

According to the latest data released by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, 2,450 consumers sought medical treatment after taking Kobayashi Pharmaceutical's health care products containing red kojic, and the cause and effect of the incident is being investigated in 120 deaths.

Source: Xinhua Net

Note: This article is compiled by Antion. Please indicate the source for reprint.