The "Cream Panda," "Matcha Azuki Milk Man" and "Gratin Crepe Corn" sold locally by Marudai Food Co. were the first food products in Japan found tainted with melamine after the chemical was detected in Chinese milk blamed for killing four infants and sickening thousands others in that country.
Tests conducted by Osaka-based Marudai, the Osaka prefectural government and the Takatsuki municipal government found 0.8 to 37 parts per million of melamine in the three products. The Chinese manufacturer apparently used milk from the Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial Group Co., one of the Chinese milk makers found to have added melamine to their products to make them appear as protein rich.
Two other sweets products of Marudai, Kakuni Pao and Mocchiri Nikuman, did not yield traces of the poisonous chemical after the tests.
The Japanese officials said the amount of melamine in the sweets was too small to harm humans and so far there were no reports of consumers suffering health problems after eating the contaminated products. Nonetheless, the firm has recalled the products from local markets as a precaution.
