I've been following the discussion about the hazards of formula
feeding.  I'm also concerned about what parents are giving their older
babies and toddlers.  I attended one of those "mother-baby exhibitions"
at a local mall and was blown away by all the new products intended to
make life easier for mom.  Israeli women have not traditionally used
baby food in jars, but they sure go for the baby snacks - white cheeses
loaded with sugar, puddings, biscuits and the beloved peanut puffs.  All
this baby junk food is being promoted as being healthy (enriched with
calcium! vitamin enriched! the taste that babies love! will help the
baby sleep thru the night!)

After seeing a rep handing out samples of "new and improved" chocolate
baby biscuits, I asked her why there is a need for such products on the
market.  Her answer was "that's what the public wants."  Israel has sky
high rates of diabetes and heart disease and here's a qualified
dietician in a shopping mall pushing follow-up formula with cornstarch
and sweetened cheese puddings saying its A-OK
because its for babies 6 months and older. (Also made me wonder what her
salary is compared to nutritionists working in public health...)

Ladies, our work shouldn't stop at the breast...

Susan Nachman-Srebrnik, IBCLC
Ranana, Israel

             ***********************************************
The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM)
mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html