As China marked its national day, President Hu Jintao said lessons must be learned from the scandal over tainted milk that has soiled China's reputation and led to a series of bans or curbs on its dairy exports worldwide.

The Japanese company Kanematsu Corp said it had found the toxic chemical melamine in frozen Macau Egg Tarts imported from China, which became the latest products to be pulled from shelves over the controversy.

Melamine is normally used in making plastic, but can make watered-down milk look richer in protein than is actually the case.

"Food safety is directly linked to the well-being of the broad masses and the competence of a company," Hu said during a tour Tuesday of dairy companies in eastern China's Anhui province, the Xinhua news agency reported.

"Chinese companies should learn from the lessons of the Sanlu tainted milk powder incident," he said, referring to Sanlu Group whose toxic baby formula was at the origin of the crisis.

A sweeping nationwide check has found melamine in 31 milk powder products, representing 11.7 percent of a total of 265 products put to the test, said the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, the nation's top product safety watchdog.

They came from 20 different companies, including Sanlu Group and several of its partner enterprises. All had been produced before September 14, it said, insisting products made after that date were safe.

The agency said it had checked 154 companies altogether, representing more than 70 percent of the entire market for milk powder.

A series of countries, mainly in Asia but also in Europe and Africa, have slapped bans or restrictions on imports of some Chinese milk products, while many companies have simply pulled items off the shelves.

In Australia, a third product -- Lotte Koala Biscuits -- was withdrawn from sale Wednesday over fears it might contain melamine, while Hong Kong said it found melamine in the China-made Lotte cream cheesecake.

The government of the Democratic Republic of Congo has banned imports of milk products from China as a result of the scandal, the economy ministry said.

In northern China's Shijiazhuang, where Sanlu is headquartered, authorities issued an unusual apology for their tardy response to the scandal, the China Daily reported.

Wang Jianguo, a spokesman for the Shijiazhuang leadership, said the local government felt "a deep sense of guilt and regret" over the sick children.

He said the government received reports from Sanlu Group on August 2 that some milk powder caused kidney stones, but waited until September 9 to pass the report up to the Hebei provincial government.

Instead of alerting their superiors, Shijiazhuang officials offered medical treatment to patients, urged Sanlu to import inspection machines and recalled the company's milk powder, the paper said.

Sanlu also asked for government help in keeping a lid on the scandal, the People's Daily reported, citing Wang.

He said Sanlu wrote to the government in Shijiazhuang asking it to monitor milk quality and take legal action against people adding melamine.

It also asked officials "to strengthen management, control and coordination of the media... to create a favourable environment for the company's recall of problem products and prevent a negative impact on society by stirring up the issue," the People's Daily wrote.

Meanwhile, health authorities in Shijiazhuang said they had examined more than 256,000 children from September 15 to 30 who had been fed infant formula, according to Xinhua.

Doctors diagnosed 3,653 children as being sickened by tainted milk, and 58 required hospitalisation, the news agency quoted Wen Honghai, head of the city's health department, as saying.

The parents of an infant thought sickened by the tainted baby formula also launched what could be the first milk scandal lawsuit.

Ji Cheng, a partner in the Deheng Law Office in Beijing, told AFP he filed the suit against Sanlu in central Henan province, demanding some 150,000 yuan (22,000 dollars) in compensation.

related report
Japanese producer finds melamine in cakes: report
A Japanese company said late Wednesday it had found the toxic chemical melamine in one of its deserts imported from China, prompting its recall as a precaution.

Trading company Kanematsu Corp. said it discovered small amounts of the industrial chemical in frozen Macau Egg Tarts during tests, Kyodo news agency said, becoming yet another firm caught up in China's toxic milk scandal.

Kanematsu said the quantity of melamine detected is extremely small -- 1.4 parts per million -- and there have been no reports of illness.

But the company has decided to recall the 289 packages that have been sold in Japan, Kyodo said.

Kanematsu is the second Japanese company to recall products after Marudai Food Co cleared more than 300,000 buns and other products last week fearing contamination by tainted Chinese milk.

Hong Kong's government also said Wednesday it found the toxic chemical melamine in a Japanese brand of cheesecake made in China.

An ever-expanding list of China-made foods and drinks have been removed from stores around the world since the scandal was first exposed last month in one of China's worst ever product recall scandals.

Normally used in making plastics and fertiliser, melamine is believed to have been added to milk to give it the appearance of higher protein content.

Four Chinese children have died from drinking tainted milk baby and 53,000 have been sickened, many with kidney stones.

Food safety has become a major political issue in Japan. Ten people suffered pesticide poisoning in December and January, and thousands of others reported feeling sick after eating frozen dumplings imported from China.

Asia's largest economy imports 60 percent of its food, the highest rate of any rich country.

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