From: "Barbara Latterner" <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Wednesday, January 23, 2002 10:19 AM


...question of rancid, spoiled milk smell of expressed milk.  ... This smell
occurs with
> this mom's milk when frozen/refridgerated or freshly pumped (strongest
smell
> with frozen and least with fresh).

Hi Barbara - LLL has an article with information on this, with a reference
to Lawrence.  there is probably more info on the website as well:

Common Concerns When Storing Human Milk (excerpts follow)
http://www.lalecheleague.org/NB/NBJulAug98p109.html
*Odor of human milk
Under most circumstances, fresh human milk has a mild, slightly sweet scent.
Occasionally, human milk that has been frozen and thawed may smell soapy and
may be rejected by the baby. In Breastfeeding: A Guide for the Medical
Profession, Ruth Lawrence, MD, postulates that for some mothers, milk stored
in a self- defrosting freezer may have had changes in its lipid structure
due to the freeze-thaw cycles that occur in such freezers.

In a few cases, mothers have reported that their milk began to smell soapy
as soon as it cooled, regardless of whether it had been frozen. "When these
mothers heated their milk to a scald (not boiling) and then quickly cooled
and froze it," writes Lawrence, "the effect was not apparent and their
infants accepted the heat treated milk. That process inactivated the lipase
(fat-digesting enzyme) and halted the process of fat digestion." However,
high heating may lower some nutrient levels, including ascorbic acid
(vitamin C). If the milk already smells sour, heating will have no effect on
flavor or smell. Milk that smells rancid likely is, and should be discarded.

             ***********************************************
The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM)
mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html