Kobayashi Pharmaceutical Co.’s factory in Osaka. — Photo The Yomiuri Shimbun/ANN

TOKYO — Kobayashi Pharmaceutical Co. announced on Thursday, that two more people who took supplements containing red rice yeast ingredients have been confirmed dead. This brings the death toll to four.

Meanwhile, 106 have so far been hospitalized in connection with health problems in people who ingested dietary supplements containing Kobayashi Pharmaceutical Co.’s benikoji red rice yeast, the health ministry announced Tuesday night.

The information was provided to the ministry by Kobayashi Pharmaceutical, which has received approximately 3,000 complaints or inquiries regarding the issue.

The Osaka municipal government on Wednesday issued a recall order to the Osaka-based company under the Food Sanitation Law for three products containing the substance suspected to be hazardous. This is the first administrative action to be taken over the red yeast issue.

The Osaka government was set to order Kobayashi Pharmaceutical to discard the products following the recall order. The three products are Benikoji CholesteHelp, Naishi-help plus cholesterol, and Natto-kinase sarasara-tsubu gold.

The Health, Labour and Welfare Ministry on Tuesday night concluded that these products, which Kobayashi Pharmaceutical voluntarily recalled on Friday, were suspected of containing harmful substances and asked the Osaka municipal government to take immediate action.

The health ministry held a liaison meeting with the Consumer Affairs Agency and other relevant ministries and agencies on Wednesday to share information on the harm caused and discuss response measures. — The Yomiuri Shimbun/ANN