Following the scandal in which rice contaminated with pesticides or mold toxin was resold to companies, an industrial chemical is now suspected of having found its way into food products. Marudai Food Co. has begun a recall of five products possibly made with melamine-tainted milk purchased from a Chinese firm.

Melamine causes kidney stones as well as more serious kidney ailments. What is worrisome is the slowness on the part of the government and the food maker to take action on food safety.

The mixing of melamine with milk in China surfaced Sept. 11. But it wasn't until Sept. 20 that Marudai started a recall of suspected products and the health ministry called for stricter checks of food items processed in China. A Marudai subsidiary in China had purchased contaminated raw milk from Yili, a major Chinese dairy firm, through Sumitomo Corp., a trading house.

In China, more than 54,000 infants have become sick by consuming milk contaminated with melamine and five babies have died. It is suspected that farmers added the chemical to make the milk's protein content appear higher. Chinese food safety authorities investigated 109 powdered milk makers and detected melamine in the products from 22 of them. This underscores the need for Japanese food companies to strengthen their capability to verify the quality of raw materials purchased from Chinese firms and the products made with them.

The Japanese government should call on China to disclose detailed information on the melamine-tainted milk scandal, including distribution routes.

In the tainted rice scandal, the farm ministry at first resisted making public the names of firms to which the rice was resold. The number of such firms has now grown from some 380 in 24 prefectures to 390 in 26 prefectures. Some companies refuse to cooperate with the ministry's probe. The ministry is considering ways to shut down the distribution of tainted rice, and the merits of introducing on-the-spot inspections without prior notice and labels indicating the places of origin of rice used in products made from it. It should not lose any time implementing these measures.