When the world gets closer.

We help you see farther.

Sign up to our expressly international daily newsletter.

Already a subscriber? Log in .

You've reached your limit of one free article.

Get unlimited access to Worldcrunch

You can cancel anytime .

SUBSCRIBERS BENEFITS

Exclusive International news coverage

Ad-free experience NEW

Weekly digital Magazine NEW

9 daily & weekly Newsletters

Access to Worldcrunch archives

Free trial

30-days free access, then $2.90
per month.

Annual Access BEST VALUE

$19.90 per year, save $14.90 compared to monthly billing.save $14.90.

Subscribe to Worldcrunch
China

In China, Soap Made From Human Breast Milk

Breast milk soap
Breast milk soap

BEIJING — According to Beijing Youth Daily, soap made from breast milk is one of China's latest fads. Just type in "breast milk soap" on Taobao, China's biggest e-commerce site, and 88 pages of breast milk-related products are in display.

Apart from those selling soaps made with the breast milk of new mothers — at prices ranging from $3 to $16 — even more sites are selling kits allowing people to make their own. Obviously there is a market, and a big one.

When the Beijing Youth Daily asked whether it was safe for people to use the products, a woman who breastfeeds and sells her own soap responded, "How can it be unhealthy if my own baby is drinking this milk?"

Because these products are homemade and their sales are through the Internet, they elude China's regulatory measures. But one dermatologist told the newspaper, “Whether it's blood or breast milk, they are all body fluids. They may transfer diseases when in contact."

He also said that certain producers add ingredients such as honey to make the soaps smell better. But without appropriate sterilization procedures, these soaps are likely to breed bacteria. "The result is the more one washes, the dirtier one gets!"

You've reached your limit of free articles.

To read the full story, start your free trial today.

Get unlimited access. Cancel anytime.

Exclusive coverage from the world's top sources, in English for the first time.

Insights from the widest range of perspectives, languages and countries.

Gaza Fighting Resumes, Quick COP28 Deal Signed, Longest Hit Song

Palestinians inspect damages after an Israeli airstrike destroyed a house in Rafah, southern Gaza, as hostilities resume after a week-long truce between Hamas and Israel.

Emma Albright & Valeria Berghinz

👋 Alò!*

Welcome to Friday, where fighting resumes in Gaza after the temporary ceasefire between Israel and Hamas expired, a COP28 deal is signed for a fund to pay for climate damage in poor countries and a rapper breaks a billboard record with a flute. Meanwhile, Mastercard is arriving in China following Xi Jinping’s “dinner diplomacy” last month in San Francisco, reports Chinese-language media The Initium.

[*Haitian Creole]

Keep reading...Show less

The latest