I hope this isn't too over the top, but I am really fed up with the article that appeared in the NY
Times and the recent Toxic-Free Legacy Ad Campaign.  There is NO balance in reporting.  I feel
that all of us as lactation consultants, ILCA, WABA, LLI, etc should hold the press and these
organizations to the standard that they MUST include the increased death rates from formula in
every single article that they write.  This would make it abundantly clear which is the better choice.
When NPR presented the author of the NY Times article on the air, the lactation consultant was
fine in that she presented the benefits of breastmilk, but she did get one point wrong.  It is not
true that the particular theoretical loads of toxins from computers would be higher in formula
because cows ARE lower on the food chain.  She could have easily taken a different stance and
stated the REAL risks of artificial infant milk quoting a whole list of statistics down to the formula
recalls.  I was frothing at the mouth hanging on the phone hoping to get onto NPR to actually give
them some real risks of formula but they never called on me.  The other call-ins were good and
100% supportive of breastmilk.  But I feel its time to Weissingerize this whole discussion on
toxins.  Ditto on "women's rights".

Best regards, Susan Burger



Dear Kimberly Radtke:

If you were truly in favor of promoting breastmilk, you would do a side by side list of the
THEORETICAL risks of the toxins in breast milk and a list of the proven risks of formula.  I would
certainly start every single publication about toxins crossing the placental barrier and in
breastmilk with the increased risk of death in this country of using formula.  There is a recent
publication that shows a 25% increase.  That simple one-sentence addition to ALL of your
publications would make it clear, rather than the soft and fuzzy, "well we still support it:.  Use the
available facts.  What you presented in your article did not present the facts in a way that most
mothers understand.  Every single time an article appears about the theoretical risks of toxins in
breast milk, we get tons of calls and I am left with explaining to mothers the real risks.  As a
nutritional epidemiologist and an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant, I am appalled
at the sloppiness of what you call "support for breastfeeding".  I highly suggest you go to the ILCA
website and use the policy statements on the hazards of infant formula and use these well-
researched facts in your articles.  THAT would be really supporting breastfeeding.

Sincerely,

Susan E. Burger, MHS, PHD, IBCLC

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