The Problems with Infant
Formula
The infant formula industry is an $8 billion per year business.
Across the globe, huge advertising budgets are spent to convince
women that it is better and more convenient to bottle-feed their
babies. With increased focus on pollution in breast milk, an obvious
question arises: is formula a better choice than breastfeeding? The
answer is almost always "no." Although the choice should be made by
mothers and their families in consultation with their health-care
provider, it is clear that, as a rule, if mothers can breastfeed,
their babies' health will be better served by breast milk than
formula.
It is true that infant formula contains far lower quantities of
dioxins, PCBs, and organochlorine pesticides than breast milk.
However, formula has serious drawbacks that tip the scale against
it.
Health concerns for the formula-fed infant include the risk of
contaminated water, potential contaminants in bottles and nipples,
and contaminants in the formula itself. In many parts of the world,
water is polluted with high levels of microorganisms that can cause
diarrhea and other serious infectious diseases. Even in developed
countries, contamination of water supplies by parasites
(cryptosporidium and giardia) and bacteria (such as e coli) can be
very dangerous for an infant whose undeveloped immune system cannot
tolerate exposure to these disease-causing invaders. As a result,
infants can become ill, even die, from formula reconstituted (or
diluted) with water.
Other common contaminants in water include chlorine byproducts,
weed killers, insecticides, solvents, lead, and arsenic. In rural
areas, nitrites from fertilizer runoff into water have caused the
sometimes fatal "blue baby syndrome."
Bottled water may also contain contaminants. Even where no
contaminants are in the water, formula that requires diluting has
caused health problems in babies when the formula is either
over-diluted or under-diluted.
The aggressive marketing of infant formula in developing
countries is directly related to an epidemic of infant death from
malnutrition and diarrheal illness, a result of the contaminated
water used to dilute or reconstitute formula. An international
effort is underway to force these companies to market their products
responsibly.
Formula itself may have contaminants introduced in the
manufacturing process. In the past, recalls have been ordered
because of contamination with substances such as broken glass,
fragments of metal, salmonella, and other bacteria. The fungal toxin
aflatoxin has also been detected in some commercial formulas.
Although detected levels were very low, this toxin is known to cause
cancer and is not present in breast milk. Infant formulas also may
contain excessive levels of metals, including aluminum, manganese,
cadmium, and lead. Soy formulas are a particular concern due to very
high levels of plant-derived estrogens (phytoestrogens) in soy
products. In fact, the concentrations of phytoestrogens detected in
the blood of infants fed soy formula were 13,000 to 22,000 times
greater than the concentrations of natural estrogens.
Some formula companies have been affiliated with pesticide or
chemical companies that make hazardous chemicals. Others make
products out of polyvinyl chloride plastic, which when thrown away
and burned in incinerators releases some of the same chemical
contaminants that can eventually get into breast milk.
Finally, baby formula is the product of a large, and for most
mothers, unnecessary industrial process, all of which adds to
pollution in a variety of ways large and small. The list includes
production plants that pollute, trucks that burn polluting diesel
fuel, the use of harmful pesticides and genetically modified
organisms to grow soy and cattle fodder, packaging that contributes
to deforestation and pollution, and more -- all in service of a
product that is both nutritionally and developmentally inferior for
infants.
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last revised 5.22.01
