Photo/Illutration Health ministry officials enter a factory of Kobayashi Pharmaceutical Co.’s subsidiary in Kinokawa, Wakayama Prefecture, on March 31. (Orina Sakakibara)

KINOKAWA, Wakayama Prefecture--Health authorities inspected a second factory here in connection with a dietary supplement that appears linked to five deaths.

Officials from the health ministry and Wakayama Prefecture on March 31 searched a facility operated by a subsidiary of Osaka-based Kobayashi Pharmaceutical Co., the maker of supplements using an ingredient of “benikoji” red yeast rice.

The company said March 22 it is recalling three types of supplements that tout benikoji’s efficacy in lowering “bad” low-density lipoprotein cholesterol after receiving complaints of health problems, often associated with kidneys.

More than 100 people have been hospitalized, and hundreds more received medical treatment.

The factory took over production of benikoji in January from Kobayashi Pharmaceutical’s aging plant in Osaka, which was shut down the previous month.

Officials from the health ministry and Osaka city searched the closed plant on March 30.

The health ministry and Kobayashi Pharmaceutical have said puberulic acid, a natural compound generated by blue mold, was discovered from batches of supplements that apparently caused the health damage.

The substance is known as an antibacterial agent and is highly toxic.

At a news conference on March 29, Kobayashi Pharmaceutical officials said they are checking whether mold could form somewhere on production lines at the factory in Wakayama Prefecture.

“We have caused a great deal of inconvenience,” Yuko Tomiyama, who heads the company’s public relations division, told reporters outside the factory on March 31. “We are extremely sorry for those who became ill. We are trying to deal with the issue with utmost sincerity.”

She said Kobayashi Pharmaceutical would refrain from discussing details of inspections because the company was the target of investigations.

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