Avoid Online Red Yeast Rice; Contains Lovastatin

Courtney Mills

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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a warning to consumers not to purchase three types of red yeast rice products from online suppliers. These products are called Red Yeast Rice, Red Yeast Rice/Policosonal Complex, and Cholestrix. Red Yeast Rice is sold by Swanson Healthcare Products, Inc., and manufactured by Nature's Value, Inc. Cholestrix is sold by Sunburst Organics.

The FDA has determined through careful analysis and consideration that these products all contain lovastatin, an active pharmaceutical ingredient in the prescription drug Mevacor, indicated for the treatment of high cholesterol.

FDA in a news release the agency advised that it had sent letters to both companies encouraging them to pull the red yeast products from the marketplace, or risk further enforcement action by the FDA.

Red yeast rice is a preparation of rice that has been fermented by red yeast, Monascus purpureus. Used for many centuries in China and Japan for its salutary properties, red yeast rice has recently been discovered by American scientists and has emerged as a staple in America among certain groups for lowering their blood cholesterol.

For more information on this subject matter, please refer to the section on Defective and Dangerous Products.