DHA is docosahexaenoic acid, an essential fatty acid.  DHA is present in
breastmilk but not in formula used in the USA.  Sixty countries have approved
supplementing formula with DHA.  The addition of DHA in formula in the USA is
waiting for GRAS approval by the FDA.

Sources for DHA are cold water marine fish and egg yolk but these sources are
not considered suitable for use in formula.  Another source, an algae called
Crypthecodinium cohnii has been found to have potential for producing the
DHA.  Production of this algae requires fermentation and bioprocessing using
hexane extraction.   Patents on DHA are suggestive that this process will
include genetic engineering.

Breastfeeding mothers are also being encouraged to supplement with DHA
because supposedly Amercian mothers are low in DHA.  DHA is thought to be
essential for proper brain growth and vision development of infants.  I
certainly think any food processing that uses hexane  should be evaluated
carefully for health risks particularly when this will be used for pre-term
and term babies.    Valerie W. McClain, IBCLC

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