The Agriculture Ministry on Monday ordered the country's farm cooperatives and other industrial groups to tighten inspection of feed and pet food imported from China to make sure they don't contain melamine, the industrial chemical that has sickened tens of thousands of Chinese children, ministry official Satoshi Motomura said.

He said the ministry issued the order after Beijing last week said several Chinese feed makers allegedly mixed melamine into their products used for dairy cows.

Animals fed with melamine-laced feed could develop kidney stones and other health problems as in the Chinese babies who have gotten sick.

A Chinese animal hospital said in late Sept that a lion cub and two baby orangutans developed kidney stones at a zoo near Shanghai after being fed with tainted milk powder for more than a year.

Mr Motomura added, however, that the amount of Japan's feed imports from China is small, and the ministry has so far received no reports of melamine contamination.

Japan on Friday ordered a recall of Chinese-made chocolate snacks contaminated with melamine, the fifth product withdrawn from Japanese stores. -- AP