The ABC News in Australia this morning had a report of contaminated
artificial baby milk from a factory in France, Lactalis (sp?) brand. Sad
for the parents of the affected babies who contracted salmonella, all in
France. The report of the recall of this product indicated that a concern
was whether there would be any effect on plans to increase marketing to
China!

These recalls remind us that, although quality-control may be
practised, factory-made substitutes for human milk are not as safe as
consumers expect, as there are various stages where a slip-up can occur.
The good aspect is that these occurrences occur so seldom as so many babies
round the world are dependent on them. For parents of babies affected, it
is a different matter.

Apart from safety, of course, we know that substitute nutritional products
for babies are of lesser benefit to human milk, a living fluid, which
is something that is often forgotten with the ubiquity of these products in
the community. This fact, and the more dramatic news of recalls, reminds us
that supporting mothers to give their babies as much of their milk as
possible, even while struggling, is so much better than advising switching
to artificial formula as the default option. (Yes, there are occasions when
it has to be offered to get the baby fed - while protecting the supply
and addressing the problem - and long-term in certain circumstances such as
maternal lack of glandular tissue or chemotherapy.)

Virginia

Dr Virginia Thorley, OAM , PhD, IBCLC, FILCA
in Ipswich, Queensland

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