"We don't want to wait in line, we want our money now," yelled a group of mainly female consumers at a specially arranged refund window in downtown Shanghai.

Dang Fang, a consumer who said she had been using SK-II cosmetics since 1998 said: "We don't really care about the money, we are just worried that the product might have damaged our skin."

Procter and Gamble announced last week it would provide a refund after customs officials in Hong Kong and China's southern Guangdong province said they would launch an investigation into nine SK-II beauty products.

Chinese authorities had found chromium and neodymium ions in several SK-II products imported from Japan, including powder, foundation, lotion and cleansing oil.

Chromium can cause eczema, while neodymium irritates the skin and can damage the lungs and liver if inhaled.

Procter and Gamble China was not immediately available for comment Thursday.

Zhao Jiaoli, secretary-general of the Shanghai Consumers Association, said Procter and Gamble had failed to respond to their queries.

"Weve been contacting them and hope they can send someone to Shanghai to help solve the problem," said Zhao.

"Up 'til now, we've received more than 100 complaints from consumers regarding SK-II."

Protests in Shanghai began Wednesday at the Park Hotel, where Procter and Gamble had arranged for refunds, but consumers became increasingly angry when they found out that they would be made to wait 21 days.

Consumers were forced to hand over the products in order to receive a refund. Some complained that the contact number provided did not work.

Closer Watch Over Food From Japan Ordered
Beijing, China (XNA) Sep 22 - China's quality watchdog Thursday issued another warning, the third in nine days, over substandard food and cosmetic products imported from Japan. The General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine said its local offices have found harmful substances in nearly 10 batches of food imports from Japan in recent days.

In one case, inspection authorities in Zhejiang Province in East China detected an arsenic content 22 times over the national limit in two batches of frozen fish imported from Japan.

In another case, authorities in Liaoning in northeast China detected higher-than-permissible lead content in soybean cooking oil imported from Japan.

Other products in which harmful elements were found include soy sauce and peanuts.

The watchdog said it has ordered local offices to beef up the inspection of food imports from Japan.

On Thursday last week, the quality watchdog said it had detected neodymium and chromium -- banned substances that can cause allergic dermatitis and eczema -- in Japanese SK-II cosmetic products.

P&G China, the distributor of SK-II in China, has begun to recall the suspect products, but insists its products are safe.

A day before that, the Chinese quality watchdog said it had detected excessive contents of lead, cadmium, preservatives and other harmful elements in nearly 30 batches of food imported from Japan.

It said that the Japanese government had been informed of the finds and asked to tighten control over the quality of food exported to China.

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