Thanks, Dr. Hale, for your informative post on diabetes on 10-4.  I always
wonder why more noise isn't made about the news that early exposure to bovine
serum albumin is linked to expression of this dreadful disease.  There is an
interesting article I'd like to recommend on this subject:  Monte,W.
Johnston,C. and Roll,L:  Bovine serum albumin detected in infant formula is a
possible trigger for insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. J AM DIET ASSOC
1994; 94:314-16.

This article notes that 3 out of 4 powdered commercial formulas tested
positive for BSA.  The concentration of BSA as a % of total protein in the
powdered formulas was as high as or in one case almost twice that of cow's
milk.  Apparantly heat treatment (such as is used in the canning process of
ready-to-feed liquid formulas) denatured BSA, so that it was not detected in
these ABMs.  This research has prompted me to inquire about family hist. of
diabetes in situations where an ABM is (hopefully temporarily) needed in the
management of an infant.  If the family has this health hist. I recommend a
ready-to-feed ABM.  I know it is more expensive and that this can be an
additional hardship, but diabetes is a lot more costly in many tragic ways.
 BTW the authors state that finding BSA in infants formula was "distressing."

Barbara Wilson-Clay, BSE, IBCLC
Priv. pract. Austin, Tx