A few thoughts on freeze-dried breast milk.
1. What problem is it addressing?
2. Is the freeze dried milk to be used regularly, occasionally, or in an emergency?
3. People have been trying to dry and freeze dry human milk for the better part of a century. That means there has been time to work on this. OTOH, they have only succeeded recently. One difficulty has been retaining the fat in the milk as it is dried. They mention this issue in their FAQ. I’d like to know more.
4. Human milk is more than the macronutrients (fats, carbs, protein) we most often measure. Because it is a new technology, there is not yet sufficient research on the impact of freeze drying on other human milk components. We have no idea how adding freeze dried milk to cereal or pudding or Nutella sandwiches (as they suggest) affects anything. This is being marketed as a convenience to use on a regular basis for all babies, not for emergencies. There’s no money to be made in emergency milk.
5. Like many other aspects on the human milk landscape, this one has some value. For example, having some shelf stable milk available in a emergency can be very important, and baby will likely be fine. Using it on a regular basis requires a deeper understanding of and knowledge about the effect of freeze drying on:
1. the many components in milk - the jury is still out on that, not enough research yet;
2. impact of mixing with water - water varies a lot in different areas;
3. impact of freeze drying on possible pathogens and medications in the milk.
6. They are approved by Health Canada (FDA is the US equivalent) and Alberta health authorities. This assures that the process is safe in terms of, for example, possible pathogens in the milk, not about effectiveness in terms of components in milk, and effects of long term frequent use.
7. Because each mom’s milk has different amounts of water in it, the company includes a personalized conversion in each package, how much water to add to reconstitute the milk. This is helpful, also leaves room for error, adding too much or too little water, especially if the product is being used by day care centers, baby sitters, or grandparents.
8. They recommend boiling the water and letting it cool before preparing the milk, that takes time, so this is not quite as convenient as it initially appears. So mom pumps and freezes her milk, sends it off to the company, then, to prepare it, cleans the work area, boils the water, cools it to room temp, makes a bottle. All together this is a lot of work, and not quite as convenient as it seems initially. Also, above mentioned baby sitters and day care centers may not be in a position to boil and cool the water each time they want to feed the baby. One could prepare bottles ahead, but then you’ve lost the advantage of a long shelf life.
9. This is a commercial product/service. That is not a bad thing, but it does impact how they market the products, their suggested uses, etc. Something to think about.
So I think this product has some value and use, but is not yet ready for mass consumption, in both senses, not ready for many families to use it, and not ready for feeding babies frequently.
Hope this helps. Others’ thoughts?
Naomi
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Naomi Bar-Yam Ph.D.
Director Emerita
Mothers' Milk Bank Northeast
Past President
Human Milk Banking Association of North America
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office: 617-527-6263
direct line: 617-340-3600
www.milkbankne.org
www.facebook.com/mmbne<http://www.facebook.com/mmbne>
@MMBNorthEast
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