I researched media coverage of this study last year. My purpose was to
present it as a case study on media bias when the topic is breastfeeding.
Here is some of the media reporting I came up with.
Wall Street Journal - "Freezing Cuts Nutrients in Breast Milk"
BBC News - "Stored breast milk loses its edge"
Fox News - "Stored Breast Milk Loses Some Nutrients"
MSNBC - "Refrigerating breast milk reduces some benefits"
And the Grand Prize in taking a negative slant goes to The Scotsman which
reported "Freezing breast milk could harm babies, says new study". Another
quote states, "(stored breast milk) substantially lowers antioxidants that
guard cells against damage caused by harmful molecules called free
radicals".
All this negativity went out to the public despite a quote from the lead
investigator, Thomas Hegyi, reported by Fox News, "Fresh is best, but if you
can't get it fresh, store it and give to baby as soon as you can. IT IS
CERTAINLY BETTER THAN FORMULA". (emphasis mine).
Another quote from Fox News stated, "But whether fresh, refrigerated for
seven days, or frozen for seven days, breast milk still had higher
antioxidant activity than formula". From this statement, one would expect
the headline to read something like "Lower Levels of Antioxidants in Formula
Compared to Stored Breast Milk".
Despite the quote from Hegyi and the Fox News statement above, the headline
in the Fox News report persisted in presenting a less than positive take,
"Stored Breast Milk Loses Some Nutrients".
Lead investigator, Thomas Hegyi, is director of neonatology and vice
chairman of the Dept. of Pediatrics at UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medial
School in New Brunswick, New Jersey.
Mary Cummins, M.Ed., IBCLC
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