Dear all:

The ONUS should be on the formula industry to PROVE that their product is safe, not on human milk to be proven safe.  Every veterinarian knows that having species specific milk is far better for mammals than some concocted "formula".  Just ask those who worked to try to save orphaned elephants how horribly difficult it was to come up with some sort of "formula" that would keep the orphaned elephants alive. 


As an epidemiologist, I find the hypothesis that human milk should be proven to be safe to be completely backwards.  It is the alternative that needs to be proven safe.So I ask is there any "peer-reviewed" research showing that highly processed milk from another species is as good as human milk and complementary foods in babies over six months in terms of LONG-TERM health outcomes for chronic diseases such as obesity and diabetes, not just the acute illnesses such as diarrhea or respiratory infections?  I seriously doubt it.  And really -- think about the triple pasteurization process that some of the "organic" milk companies impose on cow's milk to make it safe -- and that isn't even the powder.  The same processes that reduce the risk of infection from pathogens in cow's milk are the same processes that reduce the risk of infection from pathogens in human milk which means that this discussion is ridiculous.


Furthermore, we have seen the horrible impact of our shift to highly processed substances that used to be food.  The most recent problem in the news is that 20% of children are now showing signs of pre-diabetes.  Do we really want more of the "cradle to grave" ingestion of cow's milk based highly processed liquids -- or other white liquids that are highly processed from other agriculturally subsidized products to be the foundation of our nutrition?  

Or if you don't like the white liquids -- brightly colored water with random spatterings of "vitamins" so we can create expensive dyed pee running through our sewage systems?  At the time that Perrier became popular back in the 70s at least it was in glass bottles that could be recycled. Now we have created a culture in which we are all clutching bottles of some form or another from cradle to grave, never even getting close to the real source of the liquids we are drinking?  

Makes me want to go back to the Sierras and drink directly out of a spring without even a cup as I did as a child.  

In any case, the more important issue is how did we REDUCE the availability of human milk to the point that we have a SERIOUS crisis in terms of the HUMAN MILK GAP. That is a more productive use of our time than trying to justify the widespread use of another species milk to feed our infants.  The issue is not evidence-based research, the issue is operations research to improve production of human milk -- preferably through the most efficient means possible -- mouth to breast -- and when that doesn't happen with other means.

I REFUSE to equate myself with a cow and all women should rebel at the analogy that somehow cow's make better milk than they do.

Sincerely,

Susan E. Burger, MHS, PhD, IBCLC

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