TOKYO: Seventy-six new deaths are suspected of having links with the use of Kobayashi Pharmaceutical Co.’s supplements containing “beni koji” red fermented rice, health ministry officials said Friday.

Previously, the company had reported that five people were suspected of having died after taking a Kobayashi Pharmaceutical beni koji supplement product.

The National Institute of Health Sciences has detected a natural compound called puberulic acid and two other compounds from beni koji ingredient manufactured between June and August last year. The three compounds are believed to have been created by blue mold that infiltrated the process of cultivating beni koji.

Experiments on rats have shown that puberulic acid causes renal disorder. The health ministry is investigating how the other compounds can affect the kidney.

JIJI Press