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http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/3/24/dangers-of-buying-human-breast-milk-online.html
HUMAN BREAST MILK BOUGHT ONLINE CAN POSE DANGEROUS RISKS - RESEARCH
Mothers who are unable to breast-feed are buying human milk
online, but the practice is unregulated and often unsafe
By Marisa Taylor -
March 24, 2015
The buying and selling of human breast milk online is a
practice seemingly gaining popularity among new mothers, due in large part to the
much-touted benefits of mothers’ milk over formula substitutes.
However, such transactions are unregulated and therefore not always safe,
according to a new warning.
In an
editorial published Tuesday in The British Medical Journal, a trio of public
health experts aired concern over the potential for breast milk contamination
and transmission of diseases to infants.
“Although
breast milk holds many known benefits, seeking out another’s milk rather than
turning to instant formula poses risks,” the authors wrote. “At present, milk
bought online is a far from ideal alternative, exposing infants and
other consumers to microbiological and chemical agents. Urgent action is
required to make this market safer.”
The warning
comes amid a growth in sales of breast milk.
Using
specialty websites, such as Only the Breast, and even general-purpose ad sites,
including Craigslist, women who produce extra milk are selling their
surplus to mothers who are unable to express it on their own, explained Sarah
Steele, a lecturer at the Global Health, Policy and Innovation Unit at Queen
Mary University London. Some mothers even sell their milk to bodybuilders and other fitness
enthusiasts who seek extra nutrients.
In one of
the few studies to examine the online sale of human breast milk,
researchers led by Sarah Keim of the Center
for Biobehavioral Health at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in
Columbus, Ohio, found that more than 75 percent of 101 breast
milk samples purchased were poorly shipped or stored and had high levels of
bacterial growth that would make a baby sick — including fecal
matter and salmonella. Nearly a quarter of those samples tested positive
for cytomegalovirus, which is related to the viruses that cause chicken
pox and herpes simplex.
“You just
don’t know what’s in the milk,” Steele told Al Jazeera. “Moreover, the
most well-meaning person may very well have a virus they don’t know they have.”
Steele and
her colleagues say federal and state regulators ought to issue guidance for mothers
on safety issues surrounding purchased or donated breast milk, because so many
mothers are turning to the Internet for information and don’t know the risks.
In 2010 the
U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a statement urging
caution to mothers who planned to feed their babies purchased or donated breast
milk because “the donor is unlikely to have been adequately screened for infectious
disease or contamination risk. In addition, it is not likely that the human
milk has been collected, processed, tested or stored in a way that reduces
possible safety risks to the baby.”
Though the
FDA doesn’t regulate the trade of human breast milk, it has recommended that
mothers who want to use donor milk should consult the Human
Milk Banking Association of North America, which supports nonprofit
human breast milk donation through a network of 18 milk banks in the U.S. in
Canada. The association pasteurizes donor milk and tests it for bacterial
growth as well as diseases and viruses.
But Keim says
breast milk banks that operate on a nonprofit model tend to reserve their milk
for critically ill babies at hospitals. Otherwise, they sell it to mothers for
about $4 an ounce, a prohibitively high price that has pushed women to purchase
it for less online.
Because
these mothers are not required to consult a regulated center, like a blood
bank, they can purchase breast milk with relative ease.
“Individuals
are able to easily, privately exchange milk outside any sort of organized
infrastructure for the collection of milk,” said Keim. “So that makes it
extremely difficult for an entity like the FDA or even the states to regulate.”
California,
Texas and New York are the only states with laws requiring certain standards
for donor breast milk, according to the National Conference of State
Legislatures (NCSL).
While no
organization tracks the online sale of breast milk, Steele said Only
the Breast informed her that it had 27,000 active members in 2014, and was
adding 700 to 800 new members each month.
In their
ads, donors often emphasize their health, diets or exercise habits,
said Keim, but rarely do they mention more important issues — such as
their disease status or whether or not they properly sanitize their breast
pumps.
One ad on
Only the Breast reads, “Great milk, great taste, low lipase, fit producer with
more milk than can feed my family.”
“Organic,
dairy-, soy- and gluten-free mommy fresh milk if local
or frozen if needing to be shipped,” says another.
Still
another reads, “Healthy, educated, 27 year old mom of two. Milk bank qualified,
looking to sell in bulk. Athletes welcome.”
Only the
Breast did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Al Jazeera,
but cautions online that unpasteurized milk “may have bacteria” and
that all donated milk should be pasteurized before use.
Only the
Breast was founded by a mother named Chelly who says her goal is to
help other moms gain access to vitamin-rich breast milk.
“We believe
that if one mom has extra breast milk and another does not have enough, there
should be a place for them to connect that is clean, safe and private,” she
writes on the website.
However,
experts say the pressure for mothers to breast-feed is misguided if it causes
them to put their babies’ health in danger.
“Hopefully
we can help women make choices that aren’t so desperate as getting milk from a
stranger,” Keim said. “If we don’t do those things, this issue isn’t
going to go away.”