I went cruising the FDA site & searched "infant formula".  I found it full
of bad, old, & just plain wrong information.  They do quote LLLI & refer to
their site by hyperlink, but it's like formula advertising.  The description
of what must be done to be successful sounds so very difficult, painful, and
confining.  It's as though the formula industry wrote these articles for the
FDA.  I also found a contradiction on the topic of iron:

In "Second Best but Good Enough", orig pub'd in FDA Consumer, June 1996, it
says: "Another reason for originally producing low-iron formulas was that
human milk contains low amounts of iron--less than a milligram per liter.
However, it is now understood that an infant absorbs virtually 100 percent
of the iron from human milk, but considerably less from infant formula."

But in "Feeding Baby, Nature and Nurture:, orig pub'd in FDA Consumer, Sept.
1990, but updated March, 1991, it says: "IRON--Although the amount of iron
in breast milk is very low (0.3 milligrams of iron per liter), the infant
absorbs almost half. In contrast, while iron-fortified formulas contain 10
to 12 mg per liter, babies absorb only 4 percent, amounting to 0.4 per liter
to 0.5 mg per liter. In either case, those amounts of iron are adequate for
the first 4 to 6 months, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics."

So which IS it: "...absorbs virtually 100 percent..." of "...less than a
milligram"  or "...absorbs almost half"  of "...very low (0.3 milligrams..."
??    But then they compare the two amounts: almost half of 0.3 mg from
breastmilk or 0.4 to 0.5 mg from formula to each other and declare BOTH to
be "adequate" according to the AAP.

If I read this as the new mom I was with my firstborn, I would have
concluded that breastmilk was NOT adequate and considered this one more
argument in FAVOR of formula.

Then there's this from the '91 update:  "The quality and quantity of the
mother's diet may affect the quality and quantity of breast milk. (see 'Good
Nutrition for Breast-Feeding Mothers' in the December 1986-January 1987 FDA
Consumer.)"   I'm trying to find that article on their site.  They haven't
revised this stmt & it's still on their site in July '00, tells me they
continue to stand by this stmt.

The new mom I was in the late '60's would have seen that "may affect" and
read "affects" instead.

Phyllis Adamson, BA, IBCLC
Private Practice - Glendale, AZ
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