The sale of breast milk from Cambodian women by a US firm is a form of exploitation, UN children's agency UNICEF is saying following reports the Phnom Penh government has suspended exports of the milk.

Key points: UNICEF says Ambrosia Labs is exploiting vulnerable and poor Cambodian women

UNICEF says Ambrosia Labs is exploiting vulnerable and poor Cambodian women The Utah-based firm claims to be the first firm to sell foreign-sourced breast milk in the US

The Utah-based firm claims to be the first firm to sell foreign-sourced breast milk in the US Cambodia's government has put a temporary ban on the practice

The Cambodian government this week temporarily banned exports by Utah-based Ambrosia Labs, which collects breast milk from Cambodian women to be sold in the United States, according to the Phnom Penh Post newspaper.

Ambrosia Labs claims to be the first company to make breast milk produced overseas commercially available in the United States and says this provides an income opportunity for women in Cambodia whose own babies are older than six months old.

The suspension came amid fears that local children's nutritional needs were being compromised, the daily reported, and with health officials needing to determine if human milk should be treated in the same category as human organs.

UNICEF said it opposed the sale of breast milk from Cambodia where malnutrition remains a threat to children in the impoverished South-East Asian nation of 15 million people.

"Breast milk banks should not be operated by exploiting vulnerable and poor Cambodian women for profit and commercial purposes," UNICEF's Cambodia spokeswoman Iman Morooka said in a statement.

"Breast milk could be considered as human tissue, the same as blood, and as such its commercialisation in Cambodia should not be supported."

Ambrosia Labs and the Cambodia's Women Ministry did not immediately reply to request for comment.

But Ambrosia Labs founder Bronzson Woods was quoted in local media as saying the firm only collects breast milk from mothers who have breastfed their children for at least six months.

On its website, the company said it was committed to "empowering" women who sell breast milk and ending the global shortage of human milk.

It said it had measures in place to ensure the women and their children stay healthy.

"Breastfeeding is hard work and women should have the option to be recognised financially for the valuable milk that they can provide," the company's website states, adding the milk is sold at $26 for 148 millilitres.

UNICEF said any breast milk bank programs should only be designed to help at-risk children inside the country, not for commercial purpose.

The World Health Organisation recommends that babies be breastfed exclusively for the first six months of life and then given breast milk along with other food until they are two years old.

Reuters