Kathleen asked about powdered infant formula and the recommendation of not  
using it for infants under 4 weeks of age. The European Food Standards Agency  
(EFSA) issued a press statement in November on the risks of Enterobacter  
sakazakii and Salmonella in powdered infant formula. They recommended that  all 
infants under 4 weeks of age who are not breastfed should receive liquid  ready 
to feed formula and afterward powdered formula should be reconstituted  with 
water at 70 degrees C. It did not call for warning on formula can labels so  
parents are kept in the dark about these contaminants. The press statement can  
be found at:
 
_www.efsa.eu.int/press_room/press_release/696_en.html_ 
(http://www.efsa.eu.int/press_room/press_release/696_en.html) 
 
Preterm and ill infants are at an even higher risk when fed powdered infant  
formulas. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a statement to all  
NICUs recommending that these babies not be given powdered formulas, rather  
liquid formulas were to be used. Makes a pretty strong statement about why 
human  milk is so important! I wonder how many NICUs in the US even know about 
the FDA  alert which can be found at:
 
_www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/inf-ltr3.html_ 
(http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/inf-ltr3.html) 
 
NABA also has an article on this contaminant with references in its  current 
newsletter. One study found that 14% of 141 samples contained E  sakazakii, as 
powdered infant formula is not sterile (something few parents or  health care 
providers know).
 
Marsha Walker, RN, IBCLC
Weston, MA

             ***********************************************

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