(Yicai Global) Sept. 9 -- Japanese probiotic drink brand Yakult has apologized after its Shanghai subsidiary was fined for claiming that probiotics can help prevent and treat Covid-19. The company said it has been urging its units to examine their advertising to make sure this does not happen again.

Shanghai Yiliduo Dairy handed out colored flyers in April last year at a supermarket in Pudong New Area that said “probiotics play an important role in preventing and treating Covid-19.” The local market regulator recently fined the firm CNY450,000 (USD69,700) following consumer complaints.

“We apologize for our subsidiary failing to conduct strict examination of advertisements and having management loopholes,” Yakult China Investment said in a statement.

Tokyo-based Yakult has seen a rise in revenue since it started selling products in the Chinese mainland in 2002, but growth has slowed in recent years amid greater competition.

The company’s sales dropped to about 7 million bottles a day in the fiscal year to March, down from about 7.6 million in the previous 12 months, per the firm’s financial report.

According to data from Kantar Worldpanel, Yakult’s sales in China fell 16.2 percent between August last year and last month, with its market penetration rate down 3.4 percent.

China’s probiotics market is growing by about 15 percent a year on average and is likely to rise to nearly CNY90 billion (USD13.9 billion) next year. Various Chinese firms such as Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial Group, China Mengniu Dairy, Wei Chuan Foods Corp, and Wahaha Group have brought out probiotic drinks at lower prices than Yakult.

Editor: Tom Litting