This Martek patent is about the need for adding DHA to infant formula: patent #5397591 "DHA is thought to be essential for the proper brain and vision development of infants because, as noted above, it is the most abundant long chain PUFA in the brain and retina. Although a metabolic pathway exists in meals for the biosynthesis of DHA from dietary linolenic acid, this pathway is bioenergetically unfavorable [Crawford, P. AOCS. Short Course in Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids and Eicosanoids, pp. 270-295 (1987)] and mammals, like fish, are thought to obtain most of their DHA from dietary sources. In the case of infants, the most likely source would be human milk. Indeed, DHA is the most abundant C22 omega-3 PUFA in human milk. Generally, however, DHA is absent from infant formulas. U.S. Pat. No. 4,670,285 does disclose an infant formula containing omega-3-fatty acids. However, the acids utilized therein are obtained from egg or fish (Talapia) oil and have associated therewith the unpleasant characteristics previously described. Furthermore, fish oils generally contain another omega-3-fatty acid, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), an undesirable component in infant formulas because of its prolonged anticoagulant effects and its depression of arachidonic levels in infants. This has been correlated with reduced rates of infant weight gain (Carleson et al. INFORM 1:306.) Indeed, EPA levels are very low in human milk (less than one-forth that of DHA). " "DHA is the most abundant C-22 omega-3 PUFA in human milk." No mention of deficiency here, instead they talk of abundance. One might believe from this patent that human milk is the gold standard for DHA and even a company that makes artificial DHA for use in infant formula seems to understand this. The other reason fish oils are not being used for infants is that they are contaminated with toxins and the toxins accumulate in the fat of the fish. Most of the research on DHA and AA was and is funded by Mead Johnson and Martek. Many of the researchers have patents on this research. How much of this DHA deficiency in breastfeeding mothers is an attempt to fully exploit the market? If they can't get ya to formula feed by golly they can get ya to down their supplements when you are breastfeeding. So your choice if you believe all of this, is to either use fish oil (with the risk of accumulating various toxins) or use something genetically engineered. Of course there is another alternative to all of this, and that is to maintain a healthy diet and skip the supplementation. But who the heck is going to make money, if we all decide on doing that? Valerie *********************************************** To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest) To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet All commands go to [log in to unmask] The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(R) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html