The study on cariogenicity of various fluids as tested on desalivated rats is being dispersed widely, more widely than say, the story on the evisceration of the Ad Council campaign to increase BF rates in the US last year. There was a sentence quoted in one of the LN posts about this article about how breastmilk was slightly more cariogenic than cow's milk, again IN DESALIVATED RATS. In the rewrite of the findings on one press service, this turns into "Cow Milk Beats Breast Milk For Healthy Teeth, Study Says". This is a leap from what was in the study. That one liquid is demonstrably more cariogenic than another in experimental conditions quite different from what is going on in a breastfed baby's mouth, doesn't tell us anything at all about which food builds healthier teeth in vivo. I don't have great experience with journalistic treatment of research in the mass media, and this example fits well into the pattern I am used to seeing. There are some notable and admirable exceptions, writers who manage to understand what the research says and present it in a way so that others may understand it as well. Such writers are jewels and I can think of several who are active on this list. The kindest thing one can say about the writer of this item is that they missed the point. How unfortunate, then, that they compounded their own misunderstanding by writing a flawed news item about what might be fine research about cariogenicity of various liquids, but is certainly not research about whether cow's milk or breastmilk builds the healthiest teeth. Rachel Myr Kristiansand, Norway *********************************************** 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