The Osaka Municipal Government on Monday launched a joint study group of experts with the Health and Welfare Ministry that will investigate the causes of Snow Brand Milk Products Co.'s mass food-poisoning incident and attempt to recommend countermeasures.

At 1:30 p.m., a 10-member team visited Snow Brand's Osaka plant, which shipped dairy products that sickened 14,500 people.

The team, made up of academic experts in biology, bacteriology and sanitation from both the city and the ministry, met later in the day for approximately three hours Wednesday afternoon to review documents so far submitted by Snow Brand and local health authorities.

The purpose of the team is to study how to improve the Osaka plant's operation and raise sanitation standards for milk products. The team is scheduled to complete its study by the end of October.

Hideshi Michino, a Health and Welfare Ministry official, said that the meeting was largely taken up with explanations of previous investigations carried out by the city and Snow Brand. After the presentation, the experts called for more detailed data on the Osaka plant's operation and inspection procedures, Michino said.

"While at the Osaka plant, the experts toured the holding tanks of milk and asked questions about the manufacturing process and sanitation measures," Michino said.

After receiving additional data, the experts are expected to meet again at an unspecified date, Michino said. The team will complete its study by the end of October, they said.

Last week, the Hokkaido Prefectural Government said it found high concentrations of a bacterial toxin in powdered skim milk produced at Snow Brand's plant in Taiki, Hokkaido.

Investigators now believe the toxic powdered milk was the cause of the widespread food-poisoning from milk products in June and July.

The powdered skim milk produced at the Taiki plant was used as an ingredient in four dairy products made at the Osaka plant.

Previous investigations revealed that about 7 tons of toxin-containing powdered milk were delivered to the Osaka plant as an ingredient to be used in low-fat milk and other dairy products.

Investigators believe that a power failure on March 31 at the Taiki plant caused raw milk to be stored at temperatures of up to 50 degrees for some three hours, leading to the growth of staphylococcus aureus bacteria in the milk.

But instead of disposing of the milk, the contaminated milk was processed on April 1 into 830 bags of powdered milk, of which 380 were processed again on April 10 at the Osaka plant.

The Hokkaido government has ordered the company to recall all shipments of powdered skim milk produced at the Taiki plant and suspend operations of the plant for an unspecified period.

The expert team will look further into exactly how the food poisoning occurred.