The Cornucopia Institute has just released a potentially damning report that paints a disturbing picture:
Replacing Mother — Imitating Human Breast Milk in the Laboratory, details research questioning the alleged benefits of adding “novel” omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, produced in laboratories and extracted from algae and fungus, into infant formulas. The report presents disturbing research indicating that the new additives placed in infant formula are seriously endangering the health of some formula-fed newborns and toddlers. Aggressive marketing campaigns by some infant formula manufacturers appear to have encouraged new mothers to give up nursing and switch to use of the questionable infant formula products. — Replacing Mother — Imitating Human Breast Milk in the Laboratory (8.3mb PDF)
I had the opportunity to speak with Cornucopia’s Charlotte Vallaeys and Mark Kastel about this topic of concern.
Follow the red arrow at the bottom of this post to hear the show!
Cornocopia Infant Formula Interview [17:31m]:
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January 31st, 2008
Loved the podcast. Interesting to hear how negatively your FDA works.
January 31st, 2008
Disturbing. Many may know that Nestle pushes its baby formula to new mothers, often (at least in the past) claiming it is better than breast milk. The formula requires adding water, which is often contaminated in poor countries and not appropriate for newborns, whose immune system is still forming. This led to millions of deaths by diarrhea. Also, formula does not equal breast milk for its values, and may be excessively diluted.
Nestle stubbornly continues to cause trouble according to many organizations, and is frequently boycotted. This new type of formula is by all appearances the same disaster, in a new disguise. Why do these companies need to take of the weakest - the poor, the undereducated, those who speak no English, and infants. The CEO must be on strong sleeping pills - how else could he or she sleep at night.
February 1st, 2008
This is really one of the worst ways to get ahead. Surely there are lots of people who want to show that theres something going on with our health system, doing their best to get us out of the tightest fixes, like this autism-causing vaccine theory. (what do you think, is it?)
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February 1st, 2008
Thanks Calum. A serious argument could be made (and is often made by many) that the FDA has become deeply politicized.
PlanetThoughts, thanks for your contribution and your point of water contamination is excellent. I would add that even in the U.S., there are concerns about the tap water with the addition of fluoride in the majority of our supplies, as well as other wildcard factors. Here’s something I wrote about a year ago which is relevant to your thought:
February 9th, 2008
Raoul, you’ve touched upon a hotly-debated topic with the vaccine/autism discussion.
It is a topic that actually has tremendous personal relevance to me, and I’ll stick to what I know for certain. Your reference is to a preservative called thimerosal which is mercury-based. This was used for several years in the MMR vaccine for babies and thimerosal’s function is to give products a longer shelf life, which saves money in the long run for companies who manufacture the products. Mercury is a toxic heavy metal. There are debates about the level of mercury that human bodies can safely tolerate. When mercury presence in a body rises to the level of what is considered mercury poisoning, the symptoms are comparable to many of the symptoms of autism. During the time that thimerosal was used in the MMR vaccine, autism rates skyrocketed. Some feel that there is no connection between the two, others feel that they are very much connected. I believe that the year was 1999 that the FDA recommended that thimerosal should no longer be included in MMR batches, and the maker of the MMR vaccine complied.
I am making no public profession at this time about what I feel about this issue, so I’ve attempted to present a very broad overview of the facts as I know them. I urge you to look into the background yourself and to consider all sides in this debate.
One last thing I will mention; While thimerosal is no longer in the MMR vaccine, it is still used in some products, including some of the flu vaccines that are manufactured today (several companies manufacture flu vaccines). If you ever consider a flu vaccine for you or your children - if you have any - you can find out whether it exists in what is being offered to you by asking the provider. The info is available.
Be well.