Red yeast rice mainly contains monacolin K (natural statin), the content is about 0.2%-0.4% (2-4mg per gram), it is necessary to choose standardized products (10-20mg monacolin K per day, corresponding to red yeast rice 2.5-5g), it is recommended to take 2 times with meals, and regularly monitor ALT/AST and CK values, to avoid the combination with statins.
Composition Analysis
You may not be aware, but the concentration of monacolin K-the “soul ingredient” of red yeast rice-fluctuates wildly in different batches-from 0.3 mg/g to 5.2 mg/g in the same brand, the difference between drinking one cup of coffee and drinking triple shots of espresso. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 2021 drew on the cream: Among 37 red yeast rice health products sampled, 23% of the samples had more than 50% differences from the label, and even 0 mg of active ingredients were detected in some products-pure and pure, dyed rice.
For the toxin part, in 2019, a shocking piece of data released by the Taiwan Food and Drug Administration showed that in the market, red koji products exceeded the standard rate in the detection of orange mycin by as high as 18%. The highest reached to an amazing high: 4.7μg/g, which was 23 times of the standard! This stuff is not a joke in terms of toxicity-the mouse experiment showed that the intake of 0.3mg/kg of tangerine per day for consecutive 28 days directly resulted in liver cell necrosis of 47%. Therefore, buying red yeast rice should not be cheap; those 9 block 9 free mail products are highly probable to not even perform the basic steps of virulence.
How important is traditional fermentation? The technical director of the old factory in Fujian showed me the data: when using the earth method for the production of pottery jars and bamboo plaques, the humidity in the workshop had to be controlled within 65%-75%, with a temperature error not exceeding ±1.5℃. Just the turning process alone, the old master has to stir it by hand 6 times a day, each interval is strictly stuck in 4 hours – so toss 28 days, the Monacolin K yield can reach 8.2mg/g. The industrial line uses a constant temperature fermenter, although the cycle is compressed to 12 days, but the effective component is directly halved to 3.8mg/g, and an additional 0.09μg/g of hesperycin residue is produced.
There is an actual case: In 2020, a dama in Hangzhou ate a network red koji capsule for six consecutive years, and the result was that creatine kinase soared to 2100U/L (the upper limit of normal value 195). Later investigations found that the concentration of monacolin K in that batch of products actually reached 7.9mg/ pill – equivalent to swallowing half a lovastatin tablet every day. Moreover, manufacturers play word games by reducing the font of “every 100g contains XX mg” to 0.5, which has led directly to more than 30 persons getting hospitalized.
About the interaction of components, Shanghai Ruijin Hospital did a clinical trial: patients who took red yeast rice and grapefruit juice together, their blood concentration of monacolin K went up 312%, and clearance rate dropped 58%. This is why the 2022 edition of the “Chinese Lipid Management Guidelines” clearly marked that during the consumption of red yeast products, the daily intake of citrus fruits must be controlled under 200 grams. Not convinced, a fitness coach chewed two grapefruits before exercise and then swallowed red yeast capsules; as a result, muscle dissolution in the middle of the night sent him to the emergency room.
There is still another counterintuitive data: the storage conditions of red yeast rice directly affect the ingredients’ stability. Zhejiang University laboratory has done a comparative test: Samples in transparent plastic bottles were put into an environment at 30℃ for 90 days, and Monacolin K degraded as high as 73%-58% more than the same product packaged in light-resistant aluminum foil bags lost active ingredients. What’s more, some electricity commercial “buy three get one free” promotion to clear inventory, consumers may have been produced 18 months after the deadline products.
The price trick is even more dazzling. I have compared the top 20 sales of red yeast rice products on a platform, and the unit price ranges from 38 yuan to 598 yuan per kilogram. Inspection: mycin exceeded standard by 38 yuan, and monacolin K was only 0.7mg/g. The measuring value of 598 yuan of imported goods is 4.1mg/g, but the king of cost performance is a domestic brand in the middle price, and 189 yuan/kg effective ingredient has always been maintained at 3.8mg/g. The content of Hesperycin in hesperetin is controlled within the safe line of 0.12μg/g.
Health Benefits
To say that red yeast rice can lower blood lipid, the clinical trial data from Beijing Union Medical College Hospital in 2020 is hard: Taking 4.8mg/day of monacolin K in the capsule of red yeast for 12 weeks, participants’ low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) decreased by an average of 26.5%, and it has basically the same effect as taking 10mg of simvastatin. Moreover, the total cholesterol was reduced by 19.7%, directly appearing on the cover of the Chinese Journal of Cardiovascular Diseases. A 45-year-old programmer personally tested effective. A physical examination report showed that his triglycerides plummeted from 5.6mmol/L to 2.1mmol/L, and the vascular plaque area shrank by 12%. Even the attending physician was surprised.
It’s not just cholesterol, but the effect of red yeast rice on blood pressure is very underestimated. Japanese National Institutes of Health followed 823 people with prehypertension and reported that those taking 300mg of monascus extract daily had an average 7.2mmHg reduction in systolic blood pressure after six months – equivalent to a daily intake of 3 grams less salt. Even better, they improved their arterial stiffness index (CAVI) by 41 percent, and their blood vessel age was 3.8 years younger. My neighbor aunt is a living example: after eating red yeast rice for three months, blood pressure medicine was reduced from two tablets a day to half, saving 67% of the cost of medicine.
Anti-inflammatory properties are a great way to hide! In 2021, the Journal of Inflammation Research published a blockbuster study: GABA in red yeast rice can inhibit the secretion of inflammatory factor IL-6; when the concentration reaches 50μg/mL, the macrophage activity is directly dumb by 78%. In rheumatoid arthritis patients who took the formulation for eight weeks, the joint swelling index went from 5.3 to 2.1, while the pain score plunged 64% – an effect that lasted much longer than taking ibuprofen, without the side effect of hurting the stomach.
There were also surprises in the diabetes field. Seel National University in South Korea took type 2 diabetes patients to do an experiment: give 4 grams of red yeast rice powder every day, after 12 weeks, the median of the fasting blood sugar changed from 9.4mmol/L to 6.8mmol/L, and the glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) was cut by 1.7 percent. The principle is that the ankaflavin of red yeast rice can activate the AMPK pathway, so that the glucose uptake rate of muscle cells spikes by 213%. A restaurant owner said, after a meal, the blood sugar dropped from 14.2 to 8.3, and he can now dare to eat half a bowl of rice.
Cardiovascular protection is more than just numbers. In 2022, the American Heart Association counted 170,000: The incidence of myocardial infarction and stroke was 31% and 28%, respectively, compared to the control group. The reason is that ergosterol in red yeast rice can reduce the oxidative stress damage of vascular endothelial cells by 43%, which is equivalent to coating blood vessels with an anti-rust film. One of the runners is especially funny; after replacing the energy gel with red yeast rice cake, his resting heart rate dropped from 72 beats/min to 58 beats/min, and his PB performance increased by 11 minutes.
Anti-aging is more black technology. Recently, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica under Chinese Academy of Sciences reported that the monascin contained in red yeast rice can increase the lifespan of nematode by 23%, equivalent to 15-20 more years for human beings. More importantly, it can enhance the expression of SIRT1 gene 3.2 times. The SIRT1 gene is what rich men aimed to spend $ 500,000 to play “longevity needle”. I know several red yeast rice fermentation liquid beauty shop owners for the high-class anti-aging project; their customer reports indicated an average 19% increase in skin elasticity and a 27% decrease in the density of wrinkles, on average.
But don’t get ahead of your skis yet! As early as 2018, FDA warned that a web celebrity brand of red yeast rice health supplement caused rhabdomyolysis in 23 persons. When investigating the cause, it was found that the content of monacolin K fluctuated 300% within these products. Maybe 0.5mg in the morning, yet the same bottle turned to 1.5mg at night. So do not learn those live with goods, the red yeast rice as a snack, more than 1.2g of pure powder intake every day is gambling your life.
Precautions
Never take red yeast rice for an ordinary ingredient; in 2021, a third-class hospital in Shenzhen received 7 cases of rhabdomyolysis patients. All of them take more than 3 grams of red yeast powder every day. It was shown from the test report that the peak of creatine kinase surged to 5800U/L (normal ≤195), while the glomerular filtration rate plummeted to 45ml/min. It was only later that doctors found out that the amount of monacolin K, a red yeast product taken by these people, could vary by as much as ±82%, the equivalent of playing Russian Roulette with drug dosages every day.
The deadly combination with grapefruit must be underlined! For example, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Pharmacy once conducted an experiment where the subject had to ingest 200ml of grapefruit juice with 1.2g of red yeast rice together; directly, the blood AUC of monacolin K increased by 317% in this instance. This resulted in a 48-year-old business executive developing muscle cramps on the plane-he had just drunk a cup of freshly squeezed grapefruit juice and red yeast capsules before boarding the plane, and myoglossinuria stained the toilet red during the 10-hour flight, and landed directly in the ICU, costing 120,000 yuan in medical bills.
Pregnant women should definitely block this. Animal experiments of Zhejiang University showed that after the ingestion of monascus extract containing 0.3mg/kg monacolin K by pregnant mice, the incidence of fetal ventricular septal defect soared as high as to 23%, while the control group was only 1.7%. It became even more frightening when it was learnt that the placental barrier, in no way, had any inhibitive action on hesperomycin and that its concentration in the liver of fetal mice was 1.8 times that in maternal blood. In 2022, a pregnant mother in Guangdong was misled by the “blood supplementation” concept from WeChat business about red yeast rice. Finally, her fetus’ multi-organ development at 28 weeks showed delays.
Poor preservation is equal to taking poison. The Chinese Academy of Inspection has done accelerated experiments: putting red yeast rice in an environment with 70% humidity, the content of citromycin increased from 0.15μg/g to 2.3μg/g in only 7 days, 11.5 times exceeding the standard. In particular, low-cost products purchased online, 48 hours after going through 40℃ high-temperature carriage on the express, the degradation rate of effective ingredients is as high as 61%; a Beijing aunt bought “special red yeast” hand has been caked long green hair, and the test found that aflatoxin B1 exceeded 40 times!
The first place on the list: drug mix and kill package – red yeast + anticoagulant. Within the US FDA database, there were 34 cases of bleeding, including the case of one 72-year-old man who had been taking warfarin and red yeast capsules together. The INR (blood clotting index) rapidly soared from 2.3 to 6.8, and bleeding could flow for half an hour after brushing his teeth. A more insidious risk : monascus is an inhibitor of CYP3A4, raising the antihypertensive drug amlodpine blood levels times 2.7 – there was case in Hangzhou where blood preassure plunged as low as to 50 /30mmHg.
Again all natural is misleading! In 2023, the State Administration for Market Regulation found that 31% of monascus health products illegally added lovastatin, and its highest dosage even reached to 7.5mg/ pill-which has beyond the standard of prescription drugs. The more cunning merchants use “fermented metabolites” to circumvent, and even pull monacolin K production to 15mg/g through gene editing monascus strains, with an abnormal liver function rate as high as 29% after three months of eating.
Dose control is metaphysics. Italian scholars have counted that in the sale of monascus products, the recommended daily intake from 200mg to 3000mg spans 15 times, which is equivalent to letting consumers walk a tightrope between “ineffective” and “toxic” blindfolded. The most scientific reference is the provision of “Chinese Pharmacopoeia”: Daily intake of monacolin K shall not exceed 4mg, corresponding to high-quality red yeast rice about 1.2g/day. Well, the problem is, 90% of the products don’t label the content!
Target Users
Red yeast rice could be your savior if your total cholesterol always stays within the embarrassing range of 6.2-7.8mmol/L. A 2022 clinical trial in Beijing Union Medical College Hospital indicated that borderline hyperlipaemia patients took in red yeast products containing 4mg monacolin K every day; after 12 weeks, LDL was decreased by an average of 27.3%, showing a comparable effect to 5mg simvastatin. However, it is important to note that when LDL is less than 2.6mmol/L and continues to take it, 23% of people will have elevated transaminase, and the liver burden will increase.
Diabetics, don’t row away! In Taiwan, Yangming University followed 572 patients with type 2 diabetes with an HbA1c of 7.5-8.9% and found that those supplementing with 3g of red yeast rice powder daily had a 41% lower rate of cardiovascular events over three years compared to the control group. The main mechanism underlying this is that the ankaflavin in the red brown rice can increase the muscle cell uptake rate of glucose by 193%, which was tested effectively by the boss of a hot pot restaurant. The peak blood sugar after meal intake was reduced from 14.1 to 8.7mmol/L, and now he dares to eat less than half a bowl of rice.
Menopausal women are the hidden beneficiaries. Estrogen decline can cause LDL to rise 0.3mmol/L per year, but the Shanghai Women’s Health Study found that postmenopausal women who consumed 2.4mg of monacolin K per day slowed the rate of arterial calcification progression by 62% after 6 months. In a 53-year-old accountant, carotid plaque volume decreased by 8 percent after taking red yeast capsules, 2 percentage points more than taking statins. However, premenopausal women reduce this effect by half, possibly due to the interference of estrogen competitive metabolic pathways.
For those suffering from statin muscle pain, here is good news: according to the statistics of the European Drug Agency, 63% of patients who could not tolerate 10mg of atorvastatin had the incidence of muscle pain drop from 29% to 7% after switching to red yeast rice. But people with the CYP3A4*22 gene mutation-18% of the Asian population-should be cautious: these individuals metabolize red yeast rice 3.7 times more slowly, which can result in headaches and insomnia, and genetic testing can avoid the risk in advance.
Obese individuals (BMI≥28) have extra advantages. The experiment of Guangzhou Medical University showed that the rate of reduction of visceral fat area in BMI 30-35 persons with red yeast rice + 150 minutes of exercise per week is 2.3 times that of simple exercise group. However, to avoid exceeding the standard products of citromycin, a network red brand of cheap red pill was detected with 1.2μg/g citromycin, but it caused an increase in liver fat content of the experimental group by 9%.
It must be a detour for athletes! During the 2021 National Games, three marathon runners were disqualified due to their urine test turning out positive for statins; it was later found that lovastatin had been illegally added to the “natural red yeast powder” taken by the runners. WADA explains that in the products of monascus, monacolin K is present in excess of 2mg/g. The fact is, on the market, 39% of these products contain about 2.3-5.1mg/g.
For those people older than 60 years-old MAY not be suitable. Tracking 12,000 older adults, Johns Hopkins University of the United States reported that long-term use of red yeast rice increased the risks for falls by 17%, which was linked to muscle weakness due to suppression of coenzyme Q10. More dangerous is that people over the age of 70 who take warfarin and red yeast rice at the same time, the probability of brain bleeding soared to 3.8 times that of the average person, and doctors recommend this group should not exceed 0.6g per day.
If you really want to eat, remember the golden combination: 35-65 years old, LDL between 3.4-4.9mmol/L, with no chronic liver and kidney disease and not pregnant. Based on Munich Medical School, according to the statistic of Germany: for those subjects under qualified condition take red yeast rice, with 29 percent reduced relative risks for cardiovascular events while an adverse reaction rate as high as 34 percent for poorly qualified ones. Recently, a fitness coach followed the trend and swallowed 5g monaskoji powder every day. As a result, his creatine kinase rushed to 5800U/L and lay in ICU for three days before recovering his life.
Production Process
You think the red yeast rice is just randomly fermented rice? Old master of Fujian Century-old Factory will tell you that only with bacteria culture can jockey flowers bloom-they use special wort for purple monascus, culture at 28.5℃, and for 72 hours, they dares to use mycelium density of 1.5×10⁶ CFU/mL, so that the fermented monacolin K concentration could reach up to 5.2mg/g. However, the industrial production line is convenient, and the glucose solution is used for 24 hours of rapid culture, and the effective ingredient is directly halved to 2.3mg/g. 0.9μg/g citromycin is also produced. A large factory in Zhejiang province returned to the EU therefore lost 3.7 million US dollars in orders.
Temperature control to one decimal place is king. Traditional pottery fermentation requires 30±0.3 ° C, the old master uses an alcohol thermometer to detect three times per hour, and immediately opens the window to cool the heat beyond 31 ° C – this local method can make the red yeast rice color price stable at 980-1020U/g. And the north factory stainless steel fermenter, temperature fluctuation of ±2 ° C, resulting in the same batch of product color price from 780U to 420U cliff drop, and finally can only be sold as feed, a loss of 8000 yuan per ton.
Water content is an invisible killer. Taiwan Food Research Institute found that the water content of japonica rice after cooking must be controlled at 38.2%-39.8%, and exceeding this with an error of more than ±1% results in a 47% decrease in mycelium penetration. In order to save electricity and shorten the steaming time of rice in a Guangdong factory, the water content of the finished product soared to 43%, and the concentration of mandarinomycin after fermentation rushed to 2.8μg/g – 14 times the standard! This batch of goods was later destroyed by the FDA, and the boss directly lost three properties.
Turning frequency determines life and death. The old workshop insisted on Jiangxi manually turning the fermentation bed every 6 hours to make sure the oxygen concentration reached 19%-21%, so that the 28-day cycle can produce 4.8mg/g monacolin K, while the speed of the automatic production line resulted in a stack of carbon dioxide up to 15%, disrupted bacterial metabolism, and an active ingredient plummeting to 1.7mg/g. In 2022, a listed company was exposed to quality fraud, and its stock price evaporated 2.3 billion yuan in one week.
Sterilization process conceals the devil’s details. High-end manufacturers use 121℃ high pressure steam sterilization for 30 minutes, can reduce the initial number of bacteria from 10⁶ CFU/g to ≤10² CFU/g. Small workshops use boiling water to cook, the central temperature is only 92℃, resulting in E. The rate of coli exceeds the standard rate of 31%-315 party exposure of “black heart red yeast” does not reach complete sterilization, causing collective food poisoning; white blood cell count soars to 2.1×10⁹/L.
Drying is the last line of defense. Yunnan Province three-stage heat pump drying: dehumidification at 45℃ for 3 hours, color fixing at 55℃ for 18 hours, and finally slow drying at 38℃ to a water content of 9.8%. This saves 47% of the time compared to the traditional method, and can control hesperycin to 0.15μg/g. On the contrary, in a network of red brands of the “ancient method of production”, in the open air drying, in plum rain season humidity can reach as high as 90%, the whole batch of products on aflatoxin B1 exceeded 80 times.
Don’t buy the “add zero” crap. In 2023, the General Administration of Market Supervision found that 21% of red yeast rice was illegally added to lovastatin. An “organic” product was measured to contain 7.5mg of synthetic statins per gram, and the cost dropped by 64%. What’s worse, black traders usually stain old rice with Sudan red; artificial pigment particles can be seen under the microscope. It constitutes 17% of the sales on the e-commerce platform and, after three months of eating, the abnormal rate of liver function reaches up to 29%.
Purchasing Tips
Price cannot be the criterion for assessing quality. According to laboratory data, 120-180 yuan per kilogram of red yeast rice is most cost-effective. Its monacolin K is stable at 3.5-4.2mg/g and citromycin is controlled within 0.15μg/g. Among them, the first 98 yuan/kg “explosion” of an e-commerce platform was only 0.8mg/g, and citromycin as high as 1.3μg/g. The probability of an increase in aminotransferase for three months was 6.7 times that of genuine goods. Remember the formula: less than 0.08 yuan per milligram of monacolin K, more than 0.15 yuan is definitely IQ tax.
When it comes to details, it usually means a test report. In 2023, Beijing Consumer Association found that 79% of the products labeled “third-party testing” actually use non-certified laboratories, and the test error rate is ±47%. Only truly reliable reports must reflect the HPLC-MS/MS detection method and indicate the limit of quantitation ≤0.01μg/g. In the last year, Hangzhou company, by using the ELISA method in reporting hesperycin fake from 1.8μg/g to 0.09μg/g, thereby it had caused damage to the kidney for 23 people was fined 8.7 million yuan.
Mystery Packaging: The light-resistant aluminum foil bag has less than 0.5cc/m²/day in oxygen transmission rate and is able to preserve 92% for 12 months, while the product in a transparent bottle degrades 58% of monacolin K after 90 days of light. There was once a northeastern woman who bought a bottle of plastic-bottled red yeast rice; half a year later, it was tested to have only 36% effective ingredients; after inquiry, the date marked at the bottom of the bottle had been made using erasable ink.
Beware of “natural statin” : In March 2024, the FDA reported that 31% of red yeast products illegally added synthetic lovastatin, and a micro commercial explosion measured that each capsule contained 5.2mg, beyond prescription drug standards. Use TLC self-test to teach you: genuine products display orange-red spots at Rf 0.3 while adulterated products display a blue band at Rf 0.7, which is the basis of an anti-counterfeiting blogger from Zhejiang Province using this method and exposing 18 brands – one of these “old brand” actually added the industrial dye carmine.
Production date shall calculate the difference between time: for truly fermented 28-day red yeast rice, after 30 days starting from the production date is the best consumption period, it’s the complete time of bacterial metabolism. But some manufacturers with a guilty mind often sterilize on the date of production date mark, which means that consumers buy “raw rice” that has not been ripened yet. Once there is a factory in Guangdong was investigated, and its products have surpassed aflatoxin by as many as 11 times; boss was sentenced to seven years.
The certification mark should be verified: the “blue hat” health food mark can be seen on the package, with the CNAS certification code that can filter out 83% of inferior products. In 2022, the sensational “Red yeast Gate” incident in the industry was that a company forged the CNAS seal, and the total number of bacterial colonies in its products exceeded the standard by 1,200 times, resulting in many people infected with Listeria.
The temperature of transportation is an invisible killer: when buying red rice yeast in summer, it depends on the logistics track. If the environment is exposed to above 28 ℃ for 48 hours, the generation rate of hesperycin will be 3.8 times faster. Once exposed, the “cold chain special” product of a broadcast room was transported by ordinary trucks. The thermometer record of the carriage showed that the peak value reached 51℃. Red yeast rice received by buyers had become caked and smelly, with detected pathogenic bacteria of Bacillus cereus exceeding 4000 CFU/g.
Ultimate inspection tip: Take 5 grains of red koji rice and soak them in white vinegar for 2 mins, while the genuine product will slowly release purple pigment. Red koji pigment, soluble in an acidic environment, the dyed fake either instant decolorization, or precipitate black impurities. The Wuhan anti-counterfeiting team made use of this to overturn the “three-year aging” of an online celebrity brand and found that the so-called aged red yeast rice of this brand is actually expired rice + Sudan red, involving over 20 million yuan.
Common Questions
You may wonder, “What is the difference in the price of ten times of red yeast rice?” The truth was uncovered by market sampling in 2023: 79% of the products priced under 80 yuan per kilogram were mixed with dyed old rice or industrial starch. In Explosion, the price of Pinjodo was 59 yuan/ jin, lab testing found the content of Monacolin K is only 0.3mg/g while the genuine should be ≥ 3mg/g, and Carcinogenic aflatoxin B1 more than 14 times – behind the price difference is to save money.
“Is the third-party test report reliable?” Shanghai Quality Inspection Institute has done experiments: the same batch of red yeast rice was sent to 10 different institutions, and the Monacolin K test results fluctuated 291% from 1.2mg/g to 4.7mg/g! A truly credible report must be traced with CNAS number and two-dimensional code; last year, a network red brand PS test report changed citromycin 0.8μg/g into 0.08μg/g, which gives consumers liver damage, and in the end compensate 2.3 million yuan.
You think vacuum packing is safe? The oxygen residual rate of the ordinary vacuum bag was still 3%, whereas nitrogen-filled packaging can be pressed to less than 0.5%. In 2022, red yeast rice packaged in a certain Tmall store was damaged during transportation; hesperycin surged 17 times after 72 hours of exposure to the air, and the number of buyer complaints rose 400% in one week. Remember the pinch bag test – real nitrogen-filled packaging does not spring back quickly after pinch.
Homemade farming is a deadly trap. A farmer in Zhejiang province fermented red yeast rice in plastic POTS. The total number of hybrid bacteria exceeded the standard by 3800 times, and the concentration of Bacillus cereus reached 1.2×10⁶ CFU/g (national standard ≤10⁴). More terrible is that they sprayed the pesticide DDvos, to hasten fermentation, the residue of 0.17mg/kg, is over 34 times more than the food safety standard-this local product accounts for 21% in the online selling. Smell a rat in “buy five get two free” routine. A merchant in Fujian tampered with the production date of the upcoming red yeast rice; actually, this product with a shelf life of 18 months stored for 23 months and the degradation rate of Monacolin K reached 89%. After the use of consumers, blood lipids do not fall but rise, and the batch number is found to be inconsistent with the record information when safeguarding the rights, and the business has long written off the company and run.
“Imported goods are safer” is a misunderstanding. In 2023, the EU reported that the unqualified rate of China’s exported red yeast rice was only 0.7%, while some German brands of red yeast capsules were added illegally with the prescription dose of simvastatin as high as 7.2mg per capsule, and the pass rate in GMP certification of domestic factory products reached as high as 98.3% with a price 62% lower than the imported ones.
The old man always asks, “Is the red the better?” Spectral analysis exposes the lie: the absorbance of authentic red yeast rice in 660nm wavelength should be 0.8-1.2, while in 620nm, the peak value of dyed fake appears and the absorbance value is > 1.5. Food coloring used by a manufacturer in Jiangsu province, Sudan red + carmine, was fined 5.7 million yuan. The red pigment mobility of its products exceeded 12 times. The whole cup turned red after soaking in water.
Finally solve the confusion of “how much is safe to eat every day”. Chinese Pharmacopoeia” prescribes that the upper limit of daily intake of monacolin K is 4mg, which is equivalent to 1.2g of high-quality red yeast rice. However, 89% of market products do not mark the content, and a white-collar worker in Guangzhou ate 3g per day as recommended by businesses, and after three months, creatine kinase soared to 5200U/L (normal ≤195), and rhabdomyolysis was diagnosed. Remember: before purchase must ask for each batch of content test report, no shielding!
