They perform comparison studies in usually hundreds of babies at a time, occasionally thousands, comparing one modification to another. There's follow-up into childhood in some. There are thousands of studies. Obviously, as we are all learning more about nutritional components, so are they -- in fact I believe they've been a part of the impetus for omega-3 awareness for all of us in their recognition that part of the brain damage caused/allowed by formula-feeding may be related to DHA. Of course, financial considerations (greed) prevent formula manufacturers from even using some of the best of their science. Still, the best, so far, nutritional balances have been worked-out over the century (and if only their science were as good as their marketing). Now the homemade formula makers could evaluate what they have and compare it to that which has been developed already --- and hopefully improve upon it. They can't base so much on human milk as the absorption/accessibility of the nutrients is so incredibly different and difficult --- as the formula companies have long realized. The hope of the raw-milk supporters is that some of the absorption facilitators in milk may still operate. Actually, studies/reports on some of the apparent digestion/absorption benefits of raw animal milks (over processed milks) show that it's the fermentation effects of the bacteria in the milk that are providing most of the little bits of benefit -- not so much actual facilitators in the milks. Not that this is bad; it's a good solution to some of the drawbacks of formula and cow's milk. Then, just like the reductions in immunity and nutrition afforded by pasteurized/stored/frozen/re-heated human milk, "raw" milk is seldom so fresh from the source, and of course no animal milk comes close to human milk in its advanced "technology," and certainly in its specificity for humans. The immune provisions are miniscule. Don't think I'm promoting formula, and don't have disdain for the promotion/disinformation practices of the industry. I wrote the article "The Deadly Influence of Formula," which I've re-printed on my own site sans some of the sensationalism that the original editor had put in: http://www.babyreference.com/InfantDeaths.htm Even the industry-promoted focus on nutrition successfully draws attention away from all the other benefits of breastmilk and of nursing itself. The big travesty (besides all the deaths themselves) is that there is no honesty about the mortality (and little honesty about the morbidity) caused by unneeded formula use in industrialized countries (this being the cause of unneeded formula use/unnecessary deaths). Then the very high formula-death rates in developing countries is all so shamelessly blamed on the water through subtle industry disinformation campaigns. It's true that any child that dies (of whatever cause), who was being fed a homemade formula (i.e. not provided with "real" artificial breastmilk), will likely set-off large media and court reactions, as a result of the immense success of formula industry marketing, while no parent has ever been prosecuted for withholding breastmilk, when available. linda "Baby Matters" *********************************************** Archives: http://community.lsoft.com/archives/LACTNET.html Mail all commands to [log in to unmask] To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail To start it again: set lactnet mail (or [log in to unmask]) To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet or ([log in to unmask]) To reach list owners: [log in to unmask]