1.   At a hearing on Monday before Kimball, the company asked that the hold on its red yeast rice be released.

2.   Cholestin is made from a pulverized strain of rice fermented with red yeast, which is then ground up into a brick-colored powder and put into capsules.

3.   For more than a year, a California company has put red yeast rice from China into capsules and marketed them as a way to reduce cholesterol.

4.   The powder, a pulverized strain of rice called red yeast, is imported from China.

5.   Pharmanex, for example, imported red yeast powder from China and marketed it in the United States as a cholesterol-cutting product, Cholestin.

6.   Cholestin is made from red yeast that has been fermented on rice.

7.   The FDA had banned imports of red yeast powder containing mevinolin, which is used to make Cholestin.