Snow Brand Milk Products Co. announced Wednesday that it will resume milk production at six of its 20 factories that were closed earlier this month after a major food-poisoning outbreak.

The Health and Welfare Ministry decided Tuesday to allow the company to resume production on condition that the firm does not recycle milk once it has been packed in cartons.

The six plants -- located in Sapporo, Aomori, Tokyo, Nagoya, Kobe and Fukuoka -- will resume production as early as today, the Tokyo-based major producer of dairy products said.

Operations at the company's plants have been suspended since July 12.

Snow Brand's milk and related products have made more than 14,700 people ill since late June.

Snow Brand ran an advertisement the same day in about 70 newspapers across the nation, apologizing for the scandal and promising to ensure safety in the future.

The advertisement followed the ministry's decision the previous day to allow 10 of Snow Brand's 20 factories to resume operations. The company shut down the factories July 12 in the wake of the food-poisoning outbreak.

The health ministry said it permitted the factories to reopen after examinations by experts found no problems.

However, Snow Brand may find it hard to win back consumers and retailers must decide whether to put Snow Brand products back on the shelves.

The government may tighten rules on the reuse of milk products to make other milk products in light of the food-poisoning scandal, a vice health minister told a Diet committee Wednesday.

Yutaka Fukushima, parliamentary vice minister of health and welfare, made the comment at a meeting of the House of Councilors Committee on Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, which took up the food-poisoning scandal.

Fukushima said the ministry will examine with experts how to handle the use of so-called residual milk, panel members said.

A ministry ordinance based on the Food Sanitation Law prohibits milk products being reused to make the same kind of product but permits recycling to make different kinds of milk product, so long as the reused milk remains within its shelf life.

Fukushima said the ministry will also take other steps to improve the safety of milk and milk products, the panel members said.

The panel also addressed the impact of the food-poisoning scandal on dairy farmers and related businesses.

Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Yoichi Tani told the panel that the government has taken measures to support the milk and dairy industries, including efforts to prevent a decline in consumer demand for milk and dairy products, panel members said.

The panel did not summon Snow Brand representatives to the meeting. Its counterpart in the House of Representatives, which met last Wednesday, also did not ask to hear from Snow Brand.