Probe finds 18 functional food products with past reports of health damage in Japan

A survey of the 6,975 products with the functional food label was initiated by the government last month following the scandal over Kobayashi Pharmaceuticals’ beni kōji supplements. | GETTY IMAGES

by YUKANA INOUE
April 12, 2024

Eighteen of the nearly 7,000 products with the “functional food” label in Japan had received over 110 reports from medical professionals as having caused some level of health damage among their users, the Consumer Affairs Agency said Friday, as the industry reels from deaths linked to Kobayashi Pharmaceutical’s beni kōji supplements.

According to the results of a questionnaire sent out by the agency to manufacturers of such foods, 11 companies that marketed the 18 products replied that in most cases, users suffered only mild symptoms such as diarrhea and rashes.

There was more than one case in which users were hospitalized, the agency said. But the causal relationship between the product they took and their symptoms has yet to be determined. No deaths have been reported so far.