Indonesia says melamine found in 12 China food products

JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesia's health ministry said melamine had been detected in 12 food items from China, including cookies, candies and drinks, as the fall-out from China's tainted-milk scandal spread to Southeast Asia's biggest economy.

Indonesia's Food and Drug Monitoring Agency found that 12 out of 19 Chinese milk products on sale in the country tested positive for melamine, the health ministry said in a statement posted on its website (http:/wwww.depkes.go.id).

The government has temporarily banned imports of dairy products in China, and the Food and Drug Monitoring Agency ordered all regional offices to pull Chinese dairy products off shop shelves for investigation as more details of China's tainted food scandal emerged.

Thousands of Chinese children have been admitted to hospital after drinking milk formula that contained melamine, a cheap industrial chemical that is used to make the protein level in low-quality milk appear better.

Tests showed melamine levels of between 8.51 to 945.86 milligrams per kilogram, the health ministry said, adding that six of the products, including candies and soybean milk, had not been legally registered in Indonesia.

More than a dozen countries in Asia, Africa and Europe have banned imports of Chinese milk products over fears that the potentially lethal milk has made its way to their markets.

(Reporting by Karima Anjani; Editing by Sara Webb)