TOKYO: The number of people who have been hospitalized over health problems linked to Kobayashi Pharmaceutical Co.’s supplement products containing “beni koji” red fermented rice stood at 157 as of Sunday, Japan’s health ministry has said.

The number of deaths among those who took the supplements remained at five, the ministry said Monday.

According to the ministry, Kobayashi Pharmaceutical has received some 22,000 requests for consultations from consumers, while the ministry’s call center set up in response to the issue handled a total of 1,578 cases. Callers asked about the possibility of health issues after taking products subject to recalls and about the scope of recalls of products containing beni koji.

Also on Monday, the Japanese Society of Nephrology reported that most doctor visits by people with health problems linked to beni koji were made after the start of this year.

According to an interim survey on 47 patients who were confirmed to have suffered health damage from supplements containing beni koji made by Kobayashi Pharmaceutical, the first doctor visit was made last November, while some 80 percent of the 47 patients visited doctors in January this year or later.

About 90 percent of all patients were between the ages of 40 and 69, and women slightly outnumbered men.

According to the survey, many patients complained of fatigue, loss of appetite, urinary problems or impaired kidney function. Some consulted doctors about weight loss.

Roughly 40 percent of all patients started to use beni koji-containing supplements in or before March 2023.

Many patients were diagnosed with tubulointerstitial nephritis, tubular necrosis or acute renal tubular disorder. No deaths have been confirmed among the surveyed people.

Of the 47 patients, 46 took the same beni koji-containing supplement product.

In the survey, the society sent a questionnaire to member doctors on Wednesday last week and analyzed responses collected by Sunday.

JIJI Press