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TOKYO: A Japanese company said the toxic chemical melamine was found in dried egg powder imported from China as a scandal over tainted milk that has sickened thousands of babies keeps growing.
Japan's leading trading firm Mitsui & Co. said late Thursday that the company has recalled egg powder after detecting a small amount of melamine inside it.
Egg powder is often used to flavour pastries, cooked pasta and confectionery products.
Mitsui imported 20 tonnes of Chinese egg powder in September, most of which was sold to Q.P. Egg Corp., a unit of Japanese mayonnaise maker Q.P. Corp., the company said.
Some 0.4 tonnes of egg powder have already been consumed, it said, but no health problems have been reported.
The finding came after Chinese manufacturer Dalian Hanovo Foods informed Mitsui that melamine was detected in its egg powder products and poultry feed.
Mitsui has "recalled all the egg powder products that have not been used and plans to send them back to China or destroy them," it said in a statement.
Separately, the Japanese health ministry said that melamine was detected in frozen fried chicken imported from China.
The fried chicken has not been distributed in the market, according to the ministry.
China says four babies have died and more than 5,800 more are still receiving hospital care after melamine was found in milk.
It is the biggest incident to tarnish China's reputation as a food producer. Japanese police are also investigating Chinese-made frozen green beans which were found this week to have thousands of times the legal limit of pesticides.
- AFP/yt
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