China, accused in Japan of producing tainted frozen beans and dodgy dumplings, now says it has found toxic chemicals used in paint in Japanese mustard and soy sauce.
China has been swept by a series of food- and product-safety scandals in recent months involving goods as diverse as toys, tyres, toothpaste, pet food, fish and baby cribs and is fighting a scare over melamine found in milk and other products.

China said this month it had no evidence that frozen beans pulled from the shelves in Japan were tainted with pesticide. Earlier this year, several Japanese were made ill by Chinese-made dumplings that also contained pesticide, but a joint investigation failed to reveal how the contamination occurred.

Tests conducted by quarantine officials found Japan-produced soy sauce and mustard sauce had been contaminated by toluene and acetic ester, Xinhua news agency said on Friday.

"This would risk people's health," Xinhua said, citing experts on the chemicals which are used in paint and paint thinners.

"They will lead to headaches and vomiting if people eat food tainted with them," Xinhua said.

The sauces were produced by three Japanese factories, Xinhua said without revealing the names of the producers. The watchdog ordered Chinese companies to test similar products and take them off the shelves, the report said.

No related sicknesses had been reported in China, but the two chemicals had caused some sickness in Japan, it added.

Warming diplomacy between China and Japan over the last two years has done little to smooth rough edges. Chinese memories of Japan's invasion and brutal occupation of parts of the country from 1931 to 1945 run deep.

Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso had his first meeting with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao last weekend at an Asia-Europe summit, adding to a string of high-level visits since nationalist Junichiro Koizumi stepped down as Japanese prime minister in 2006.

A months-long scandal over melamine appearing in Chinese milk products and eggs has caused thousands of children to fall ill in China and killed at least four.

被日本指责生产了受污染的冻豆子和毒饺子的中国现在说，在日本生产的芥末酱和酱油中发现了用在油漆中的有毒化学成分。

在最近的几个月里，中国被一系列食品和产品安全丑闻所席卷，涉及的这些商品种类繁多，有玩具、轮胎、牙膏、宠物食品、鱼肉和婴儿床，现在中国正在消除因牛奶和其他产品中发现三聚氰胺而引起的恐慌。

本月，中国声称没有证据证明在日本被下架的冻豆子被杀虫剂污染。今年早些时候使一些日本人致病的中国产饺子也含有杀虫剂，但是联合调查组没能揭示污染是怎样产生的。

检疫官员进行的检测在日本产的酱油和芥末酱中发现了甲苯和乙酸乙酯，新华社周五说。

“这会危害人民的健康。”新华社援引在这些用于油漆和油漆稀释剂的化学物质方面的专家们的话说。

“食用了被这些东西污染了的食品会引起头痛和呕吐。”新华社说。

这些调味料是由三家日本工厂生产的，新华社并没有披露它们的名字。检查部门要求中国企业将类似产品进行下架检查，报告说道。

中国尚未发现与此相关的病例，但是这两种化学物质在日本已经导致了几个病例，报告补充说。

过去两年日趋升温的中日两国关系并没有对这起摩擦起到太多润滑作用。中国人对1931年到1945年日本对其的侵略和对部分国土的野蛮占领记忆深刻。

日本首相麻生太郎与中国总理温家宝在上周末的亚欧峰会上进行了第一次会见，此外自从2006年作为日本首相的民族主义者小犬蠢一郎下台以来，双方增加了一系列高层互访。

这起长达数月的关于在中国奶制品和鸡蛋中发现三聚氰胺的丑闻已使中国的数千儿童致病，至少四人死亡。