'Black Marketing' of Human Breast Milk Causes Concern in China

The Chinese Ministry has expressed concerns about dairy products, leading to a "black market" in human breast milk. While some mothers have turned to imported formulas to feed their babies, others are selling their own breast milk online to make some extra money and help mothers who are don't produce enough milk of their own.

On popular shopping websites like taobao.com, mothers who claim to have an excess supply of breast milk are selling it in frozen special storage bags.

The prices range from 39 yuan (6 dollars) to 100 yuan (about 20 dollars), depending on the milk's freshness.

According to the Ministry of Health regulation the Ministry of Health, human breast milk is categorized as a "special food source" that cannot be sold or manufactured.

The new product has attracted wide attention and sparked off a debate about the freshness and purity of the milk.

A gynecologist at the Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital, Zhang Junping, said he thinks the health of the milk donor and the risk of babies being allergic to the milk are of greatest concern.

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"Despite the fact that the milk sold online is produced by new mothers who are breastfeeding their own babies, different babies need different kinds of nutrition, which can only be met by their biological mother's milk," the China Daily quoted Junping, as saying.

Source-ANI