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Not All Milk is Created Equal
Sunday, May 20, 2007
Last Friday I was running through the latest press releases and I saw that this formula company has come out with an entirely new line of infant formula. They're billing it as a new line of "sensitive" formula for babies who have "feeding issues". Fair enough. The thing that stuck out to me, though, was this:All three formulas include DHA and ARA, nutrients found in breast milk that support brain and eye development. These new products are now available in the baby/toddler aisle at most major retail locations.This got me thinkin': What is DHA and ARA and how can a formula company make this claim, because I know it's hard to manufacture natural substances in a lab. Since I'm not a nurse, doctor, lactation consultant or scientist, I thought I'd hunt down some information for moms who may be on the fence about breastfeeding and who may read this claim and think, "Well, it's just like the real thing".
From kellymom.com,
Actually these fatty acids are nothing like what is in breast milk and pose a number of known and unknown risks to the infants who consume them. The DHA is extracted from fermented microalgae and the ARA is extracted from soil fungus. The breast does not use either of these items to manufacture its fatty acids, and these sources are new to the food chain. Each of the processed oils has its own fatty acid composition, adding a number of fatty acids to formula that already are contained in the plant oils mixed into the base formula. Human fatty acids are structurally different from manufactured ones from plant sources. Human fatty acids interact with each other in a special matrix. Just because they perform as they do in human milk does not mean they will perform at all in an artificial construct.You can read the entire article here. To be fair, though, the American Academy of Pediatrics doesn't make a stand either in favor of or against DHA and AHA stating:
# The AAP has no official stand on the addition of LC-PUFAs to infant formula or food.What I do know is this: Nothing can replicate breast milk. The breast will always be best.
# There is simply not enough data yet for the AAP to make a recommendation either way.
On a similar note: You may have to blink twice after reading this, especially if you're like me and know little to nothing about genetic engineering.
In this article, Rice containing breast milk proteins to be grown in Kansas, I learned that a biotech company has developed a rice that contains some of the same human proteins that are present in breast milk. Of course, this rice will be used in infant formula. Can't wait to see the marketing.
Labels: formula, health, reasons to breastfeed
posted by Jennifer James @ 8:10 PM,
