(Yicai) March 25 -- Japanese drugmaker Kobayashi Pharmaceutical said it is recalling cholesterol-lowering supplement pills containing red yeast rice from the Chinese market after some users developed kidney disease.

“Unintended” elements were found in some of the raw red yeast rice material, the Osaka-based company said on March 22, adding that it had not identified the elements nor confirmed a direct link between its product and the kidney disease symptoms reported by some users.

The affected products were sold in the Chinese mainland through cross-border channels, it noted.  Kobayashi Pharma has stores on Chinese e-commerce platforms Tmall, Pinduoduo, and JD.Com. The company also recalled two other products from the Japanese market that contained related ingredients.

Red yeast rice is a fermented Monascus purpureus, a red species of mold. It is used in traditional Chinese medicine to treat stomach diseases and boost blood circulation. It was later found to help lower cholesterol due to high levels of Monacolin K, a compound used in many modern statin drugs for the same purpose. 

According to research by the Mayo Clinic in 2022 on using red yeast rice under certain conditions, rice containing a lot of Monacolin K can be used to lower overall cholesterol levels. But products containing Monacolin K can cause the same side effects as Lovastatin, including damage to the muscles, kidneys, and liver, it noted.

“An older study raised the concern that some red yeast rice products contain a contaminant called citrinin, which can cause kidney failure,” according to an article about red yeast rice on the Mayo Clinic’s website.

Only 20 percent of the red yeast rice material made by Kobayashi Pharma was used in its own products, with the rest supplied to other firms, including over 50 in Japan and Taiwan, it said. Firms that use Kobayashi Pharma's red yeast rice are recalling products and carrying out checks.

Editor: Martin Kadiev