Sarah asks what other requirements a milk bank would have besides testing
the donor. I don't work in a milk bank nor with brokering of milk between
otherwise unacquainted women, but donor milk is used extensively in my
workplace so this is based on what I know about that and what I know as a
consumer of food.

There are two main aspects involved in safely providing donor milk. One is
screening of donors, according to whatever safety measures are standard.
The other is testing of the milk itself, since in theory every portion of
expressed milk has the possibility of being contaminated, or improperly
handled. Even if the donor meets all the criteria, it isn't possible for a
milk bank to ensure that all the milk expressed by that donor, meets the
hygienic standards set for institutional use of donor milk. I believe our
milk bank tests batches of milk regularly for bacteria levels. I know the
Norwegian dairies check cow's milk for leukocytes as an indicator of
mastitis, and the milk is refused if the levels exceed the maximum
acceptable level. Don't know much more about bovine milk testing!

There can't be many people who would hesitate on grounds of safety to eat a
meal at a friend's home, prepared by the friend, and those who do
hesitate might be considered obsessive-compulsive! Some of us have dietary
practices that restrict whose homes we are willing to eat in, which
restaurants we will go to, or which dishes we choose, These practices don't
have anything to do with food taste preferences, but with our beliefs about
the appropriateness and acceptability of various foods. Most all of us are
aware that health authorities where we live, have rules for how restaurants
handle food, rules that are meant to protect us from food-borne illness.
Hospitals have their own rules for food handling too.

I expect that two friends cross-feeding each other's children, and two
women who meet through a business transaction around milk produced by one
and acquired by the other, will view the milk exchange in a different
light. We are only obliged to provide factual information to those
consulting us; it is not our place to decide what is 'safe enough' for the
individual woman (or man) seeking to give breastmilk to their child, just
as it is not our place to decide whether it's 'safe enough' for a given
mother to breastfeed while she uses medication, or consumes a diet we would
object to.  As Liz said, 'we do the informing, mothers do the deciding'. I
just might have to knit that into a blanket, or cross-stitch it into a
sampler.

Rachel Myr
Kristiansand, Norway

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