(Ecns.cn)--From large electrical appliances to small packages of snacks, you can buy almost everything online. Now add human breast milk to that list.
According to a report in the Chongqing Morning Post Wednesday, some women in Beijing, Hangzhou, Wuhan, Shenzhen and Jinan are selling their breast milk online, with prices ranging from 50 yuan ($7.76) to 100 yuan ($15.52) for 200 to 250 ml.
The milk is generally produced by shop owners who are also mothers of newborn babies. "My baby cannot eat all my milk, so I came up with the idea to milk into a sterile bag and sell it on the Internet," said a shopkeeper in Wuhan.
The milk can only be sold within the city that shopkeepers live in order to maintain freshness. Buyers can also go to a shopkeeper's house and pick up milk on-site.
Shopkeepers guarantee the quality of the milk, saying that the whole process is clean and that the milk is stored vacuum-packed in refrigerators. Nevertheless, in the past 30 days only two to three packages have been sold by each shop.
Many mothers have seen the shops on the Internet, but few are comfortable with the idea. "The baby is small and weak, and one drop of bad milk may cause great damage. I won't sacrifice my baby's health to buy this 'cheap' milk," said a young mother in Jinan whose breast milk could not satisfy her child.
Buying online breast milk is unwise, because one cannot know for sure if the shopkeeper is healthy, said a doctor in Chongqing Municipality.
