Further to Tricia Shamblin's request for information about additives in 
artificial milk manufactured for babies, and my reply on some of the other 
additives, here are some references on prebiotics in human milk.

1) Perrin MT, Fogleman A, Allen JC. The nutritive and immunoprotective 
quality of human milk beyond 1 year postpartum: are laction-duration-based 
donor exclusions justified?  J Hum Lact 2013; 29(3): 341-349. [This article, 
a literature review for the information of human milk banks, is a useful 
source for other purposes, e.g. table, p. 342.]



References cited by Perrin et al on oligosccharides, in particular, are:

2) Kunz C, et al. Ologosaccarides in human milk: structural, functional, and 
metabolic aspects. Annu Rev Nutr 2000; 20:699-722.

3) Zivkovic AM, et al. Human milk glycobiome and its impact on the infant 
gastrointestinal microbiota. P Natl Acad Sci USA. 2011; 118 (suppl 1):1-6.

4) Bode L. Human milk oligosaccharides: every baby needs a sugar mama. 
Glyobiology 2012; 22(9):1147-1162.



As many of you are aware, the manufacturers advertise their products as 
having prebiotics and probiotics, omitting to mention that these products 
contain relatively small amount of these, and that the evidence that they 
are effective when placed in an artificial concoction is conflicting. Here's 
what they don't mention:

- the source of these additives

- that human milk has a large component of prebiotics, all of 
species-specific (human) origin, which foster development of probiotics in 
the gut

So parents think they should switch from breastfeeding to these products to 
get all these components, not realising that they are actually *reducing* 
the amount for the baby. The smallest count of oligosaccharides in 
breastmilk that I've found in my reading is at least 130, and they are 
one-third of the components of human milk. What a huge reduction in these 
goodies babies receive when their parents switch to the artificial milks 
with additives.



Virginia



Dr Virginia Thorley

Honorary Research Fellow

School of History, Philosophy, Religion & Classics

The University of Queensland, QLD 4072

Australia

email: [log in to unmask]

website: www.virginiathorly.com





----- Original Message ----- 
From: "vgthorley" <[log in to unmask]>
To: "Lactation Information and Discussion" <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Monday, November 11, 2013 10:35 PM
Subject: Re: DHA and ARA in infant formula


> Tricia, here's a useful systematic review that will help you weigh up the 
> evidence.
>
> ESPGHAN Committee on Nutrition: Braegger C, Chmielewska A, Desci T, et al. 
> Supplementation of infant formula with probiotics and/or probiotics: A 
> systematic review and comment by the ESPGHAN Committee on Nutrition. 
> Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology & Nutrition 2011; 52(2): 238-250.
>
> Remember, prebiotics (which foster the production of probiotics in the 
> gut) are about one-third of the components of human milk and there are 130 
> (or more) oligosaccharides, a prebiotic, in human milk. What's put into 
> artificial milk is very little - but the manufacturers advertise this 
> small component, and who has the money to advertise the real thing (Mum's 
> milk), which is loaded with it?
>
> Virginia
> in Brisbane, QLD, Australia
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Tricia Shamblin" <>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Monday, November 11, 2013 9:56 AM
> Subject: DHA and ARA in infant formula
>
>
>>I had a conversation with a colleague recently about DHA and ARA in infant 
>>formula. I was under the impression that the results of studies have been 
>>inconclusive regarding their benefits in formula, but I don't want to give 
>>the wrong information. It looks like there are a few studies showing some 
>>visual acuity benefit for preterm infants, but I'm wondering about their 
>>validity. Where did they get their funding? Does anyone have any links to 
>>information about this? Of course, there's also the issue of hexane being 
>>used in the extraction process and the fact that we don't know what the 
>>long-term effect of possible exposure to it in infant formula is. Thank 
>>you for your help.
>>
>> Tricia Shamblin, RN, IBCLC
>>
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