Becky Saenz, MD, wrote:
> I called Ross, to see just exactly what they were trying to sell as "the
> next best thing" . . . The new one still has only 48:52 whey to casein
> ratio, and still doesn't contain arachidonic acid or docosahexaneoic acid
> (the long-chain fatty acids that have been found to be so important in
> brain and retinal development.) Unfortunately, didn't have this info
> before I mailed my response letter to the editor.
I live in Columbus, OH, home of Ross Labs, and the local paper (Columbus
Dispatch) contained an article on June 21 about Abbott's decision not to
add DHA. They actually put a spin on it that made this sound like a *good*
decision! This ran in the business section.
On the *same day* (PR forces were out in droves), the "Accent" section ran
a column ("Formula maker says iron-fortified product closer to real thing")
on its front-page that was appalling. Its second paragraph quoted Dr.
William C. MacLean Jr. as saying, "If [babies] can't have the best, they
ought to have the next best." We later discovered that the seemingly
unbiased doctor who is so concerned with infant nutrition is -- you guessed
it -- a Ross employee.
I can give you the full text if you want to retch. The health editor heard
from me, although he surprisingly ;) has not responded. Re. the headline, I
wrote:
"Say I was moving from Maine to upstate New York, and I sent all my
friends
cards to tell them my new address. Let's also say the cards had a hula
dancer on the front, and the headline 'I'm Closer to Hawaii Now!'. Anyone
who knows U.S. geography would say, 'Duh -- New York is closer to Hawaii
than Maine, but you're still nowhere NEAR Hawaii!' "
Ramble, ramble. As we were driving by the Ross building last week, I
couldn't help but notice that they're building an addition that's at least
the size of the existing structure. I guess they needed facilities to house
all the PR people who work with local papers across the country to make
breastfeeding seem completely unnecessary. :(
Janice Berry
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