Martek Biosciences Corporation have supplied 'nutritional oils' to the
formula market. The oils are DHA ( docosahexaenoic acid) and ARA
( arachidonic acid) In a Dec 1998 press release by Martek they stated
that seven markets now have term infant formulas with these oils and
fifteen markets for preterm formula. In NZ the only term formula
available with these oils on the market at present is S26 Gold Cap
produced by Wyeth. I believe that the oils are also in the preterm S26.
A big concern about these nutritional oils is the way in which they are
produced. All indications are that Martek are using genetic engineering
to produce these oils from algae.I have recently been communicating with
a person in Australia about this and she says the Wyeth 'marine oils'
are made by genetically engineering marine algae. Have a look at the
Martek web site. At present we have someone seriously looking into this
issue in Christchurch. If anyone is interested in discussing this
further perhaps they could email me privately as I don't wish to clutter
up an online breastfeeding discussion with formula issues.I'm also not
sure if this discussion is actually OK anyway. I'm a very new member and
haven't quite sorted out what's acceptable yet!
Carol Bartle. (Midwife NICU)

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