BEIJING -- China's Ministry of Health (MOH) on Friday issued a regulation to standardize infant formula for children with congenital diseases.

The regulation covers lactose-free formula, premature infant formula and breast milk dietary supplements.

According to statistics provided by the MOH, infants who are born with congenital diseases require infant formula that is tailored to their needs, as they cannot feed on breast milk or conventional infant formula.

The regulation states that special infant formula must be based on medical science and nutriology, as well as meet the needs of infants from the day of birth to six months of age.

Six kinds of infant formula for children with congenital diseases are specified in one of the regulation's appendices. Newly developed formulae that are excluded from the appendix should be produced in accordance with national food safety standards, the regulation said.

China's dairy industry suffered a heavy blow after a scandal in 2008 in which infant formula was found to be tainted with melamine, an industrial compound used to create plastic and resin. The tainted formula led to the deaths of six infants and sickened 300,000 children across the country.