China announced Thursday it will allocate $44 million to help Chinese dairy farmers who hurt by declining demand for milk in the wake of the country's tainted milk scandal. (Ng Han Guan/Associated Press)Millions of dollars have been allocated to help Chinese dairy farmers who have been hurt by declining demand for milk, China's Finance Ministry announced on Thursday.

The $44 million US is meant to help farmers have been forced to toss out raw milk and who are struggling with feed costs they cannot recoup, officials said.

China's food exports have suffered since high levels of the industrial chemical melamine were found in milk powder and dairy products.

More than 30 countries have restricted Chinese dairy products and in some cases all Chinese food exports.

Infants most vulnerable

A woman looks at the milk products with a notice board reading 'Free of Melamine, feel safe to take' on display at a supermarket in Wuhan in central China's Hubei province. (Associated Press Photo)On Wednesday, China's Health Ministry issued a statement indicating that 10,666 children remain hospitalized in China after drinking milk powder that contained melamine.

Eight of the children were listed in critical condition, according to the Associated Press.

Melamine is used to make plastics and fertilizers. It is high in nitrogen and when added to food products can mask low nutrient levels in standard tests.

Some experts have said some of the contamination could come from the environment during food processing, but others speculate Chinese producers may have added melamine to watered-down milk.

Consuming it can cause kidney stones and kidney failure. Infants are particularly vulnerable.

Melamine contamination in infant formula, fresh milk and other milk products in China has been blamed for the deaths of several children, and caused kidney ailments in thousands more.

Countries to examine trade accords

China's milk and dairy products are also being discussed at a two-day meeting of health ministers from the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Manila.

During the meeting ministers agreed that member states should strengthen mechanisms for consultation and exchange of information to prevent health hazards, said Philippine Health Secretary Francisco Duque III.

"Presently, our governments are confronted with the fear engendered by melamine milk products finding their way into our local markets," Duque said. "Such is the trade-off of globalization — that is, a globalization without effective and co-ordinated global governance."

The ministers plan to ask senior diplomats to study the impact of international trade accords on health of their citizens and national health policies.

Under Health Ministry guidelines released Wednesday, China has now limited melamine to one part per million for infant formula and 2.5 ppm for liquid milk, milk powder and food products that contain more than 15 per cent milk.

Wang Xuening, a ministry official, acknowledged small amounts of melamine can leech from the environment and packaging into milk and other foods, but said deliberate tainting was forbidden.

Levels of melamine discovered in batches of milk powder recently registered as much as 6,196 ppm.

In the United States, experts at the Food and Drug Administration have concluded that eating 2.5 ppm of melamine would not raise health risks, even if a person ate food every day that contained it.

With files from the Associated Press