Shanghai - US consumer products giant Procter and Gamble has pulled its popular SK-II line of beauty products off the shelf in China, sparking violence at the company's Shanghai office.

Disgruntled Chinese cosmetic consumers break into Procter and Gamble's offices in Shanghai, September 22, 2006. The US parent company of the troubled SK-II cosmetics range pulled the line of beauty products off the shelf in China, citing health concerns and sparking violent protests.[AFP]

An angry group of consumers kicked down the front door of the Procter and Gamble office only hours after the company said it would stop selling its Japanese-made SK-II line.

"SK-II is suspending sales of its skin care products line in China and temporarily closing its SK-II counters," the note posted at a consumer refund location in Shanghai said.

"While SK-II believes all its products safe, SK-II is taking this action until its compliance with regulations pertaining to trace levels of chromium and neodymium in cosmetic products China is fully clarified."

Last week Chinese authorities discovered traces of the two toxic metals in nine SK-II products including powder, foundation, lotion and cleansing oil products. Shanghai health officials added three more items to the list Friday.

Liu Meiying, a middle-aged consumer, said that she was furious.

"A multinational should not hide from us but come out and handle this properly," she said.

More than a dozen women and one man smashed a glass door and raced into Procter and Gamble's offices on Shanghai's main thoroughfare, Central Huaihai Road.

No Procter and Gamble employees were in the office at the time. A cleaning lady said staff had been sent home.

There were no injuries witnessed by reporters.

It was the third day running that tempers have flared over SK-II's products.

On Thursday, hundreds of Shanghai women seeking their money back at specified locations became infuriated over being made to wait three weeks for the promised refunds.

Security guards were called in to control a crowd of about 300 people at one location near a main shopping avenue. 

Procter and Gamble said Friday it was suspending refund operations effective immediately due to security issues.

The company said a hotline had been set up and that all refund requests submitted by September 21 would be honored. The numbers provided were normally listed consumer service numbers on its website.

Repeated calls to spokesmen at the company's Guangzhou and Shanghai operations went unanswered.

Shanghai health authorities said Friday they found chromium and neodymium in three more SK-II cosmetics -- a facial cleanser, a wrinkle treatment mask and a whitening product.

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

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 SK-II products.