Jakarta: Indonesia's Food and Drug Monitoring Agency (BPOM) has confirmed melamine had been detected in 12 food products from China, including cookies, candies and drinks, the health ministry and media reports said on Saturday.

Health Minister Siti Fadilah Supari said the BPOM had found that 12 out of 19 China-based dairy products on sale in the country tested positive for melamine, a chemical found in plastic.

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Tests showed melamine levels between 8.51 to 945.86 mg per kg, the health ministry said. It noted six of the products, including candies and soybean milk, had not been legally registered in Indonesia, the Jakarta Post quoted Supari as saying.

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

Supari also called on importers, distributors and retailers to stop selling the items, warning that those failing to comply with the ban could face up to five years in jail and a two-billion-rupiah (about $214,000) fine.

Authorities also sealed off four mini-markets in the capital Jakarta for selling illegal foods and cosmetic products imported from China, Japan and South Korea.

Thousands of Chinese children have been admitted to hospital after drinking formula that contained melamine, an industrial chemical used illegally to mask low-protein levels in inferior milk.

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