Health & Medicine
Breast Milk Sold Online Causes Illness in Infants: Study
Benita Matilda
First Posted: Oct 21, 2013 10:24 AM EDT
Breast milk is a coveted commodity and its online sale has become quite popular in recent times. But this can be dangerous.
Researchers at Nationwide Children's Hospital conducted a study and noticed that more than three fourth of the breast milk samples purchased online contained bacteria that cause illness in infants and frequently displayed signs of poor collection, storage and shipping practices.
This is the first study to analyze the safety of breast milk sold over the Internet. A study conducted previously in 2011 revealed that nearly 13,000 postings were placed on a U.S. milk sharing websites.
For this study, the research team purchased breast milk that was sold on public websites and then analyzed 101 samples. They compared the result with 20 samples taken from a milk bank. In milk banks, they pasteurize the milk due to which the harmful bacteria is killed before it reaches the infant, whereas this process is absent in the milk sold online.
"We were surprised so many samples had such high bacteria counts and even fecal contamination in the milk, most likely from poor hand hygiene. We were also surprised a few samples contained salmonella," Sarah A. Keim, PhD, principal investigator in the Center for Biobehavioral Health, said in a press statement. "Other harmful bacteria may have come from the use of either unclean containers or unsanitary breast milk pump parts."
The milk bank samples were less likely to have different types of bacteria even before pasteurization and in many cases had low bacterial growth. Shipping practices on the other hand play a role in the level of bacteria in the milk sold online.
The level of contamination was directly linked to the duration of shipping time. They noticed that 19 percent of the sellers did not have dry ice or other cooling methods. The temperature was outside the recommended range for storage.
The researchers even looked at the classified ads on websites where individuals described the breast milk they wanted to sell or the reason they were wanting breast milk. The researchers in turn responded to the ads from sellers who failed to enquire about the infant receiving milk and who did not ask for a phone call before completing the transaction.
The researchers suggest that milk banks are a safe alternative for online milk as they reduce the risk of bacterial illness.
Dr. Keim concluded saying, "Our research results may not apply to situations where milk is shared among friends or relatives or donated rather than sold-the potential risks of those situations are less well understood. Moms pumping for their own child should sanitize the parts of the breast pump that come into contact with the milk, use clean containers and wash their hands before pumping and handling milk. Also, keep milk cold and feed it to the baby soon."
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First Posted: Oct 21, 2013 10:24 AM EDT
Breast milk is a coveted commodity and its online sale has become quite popular in recent times. But this can be dangerous.
Researchers at Nationwide Children's Hospital conducted a study and noticed that more than three fourth of the breast milk samples purchased online contained bacteria that cause illness in infants and frequently displayed signs of poor collection, storage and shipping practices.
This is the first study to analyze the safety of breast milk sold over the Internet. A study conducted previously in 2011 revealed that nearly 13,000 postings were placed on a U.S. milk sharing websites.
For this study, the research team purchased breast milk that was sold on public websites and then analyzed 101 samples. They compared the result with 20 samples taken from a milk bank. In milk banks, they pasteurize the milk due to which the harmful bacteria is killed before it reaches the infant, whereas this process is absent in the milk sold online.
"We were surprised so many samples had such high bacteria counts and even fecal contamination in the milk, most likely from poor hand hygiene. We were also surprised a few samples contained salmonella," Sarah A. Keim, PhD, principal investigator in the Center for Biobehavioral Health, said in a press statement. "Other harmful bacteria may have come from the use of either unclean containers or unsanitary breast milk pump parts."
The milk bank samples were less likely to have different types of bacteria even before pasteurization and in many cases had low bacterial growth. Shipping practices on the other hand play a role in the level of bacteria in the milk sold online.
The level of contamination was directly linked to the duration of shipping time. They noticed that 19 percent of the sellers did not have dry ice or other cooling methods. The temperature was outside the recommended range for storage.
The researchers even looked at the classified ads on websites where individuals described the breast milk they wanted to sell or the reason they were wanting breast milk. The researchers in turn responded to the ads from sellers who failed to enquire about the infant receiving milk and who did not ask for a phone call before completing the transaction.
The researchers suggest that milk banks are a safe alternative for online milk as they reduce the risk of bacterial illness.
Dr. Keim concluded saying, "Our research results may not apply to situations where milk is shared among friends or relatives or donated rather than sold-the potential risks of those situations are less well understood. Moms pumping for their own child should sanitize the parts of the breast pump that come into contact with the milk, use clean containers and wash their hands before pumping and handling milk. Also, keep milk cold and feed it to the baby soon."
See Now: NASA's Juno Spacecraft's Rendezvous With Jupiter's Mammoth Cyclone