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Internet-purchased breast milk can contain bacteria
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More than three-fourths of breast milk purchased over the Internet contains bacteria that can cause illness, according to recent study findings published in Pediatrics.
“We were surprised so many sampled had such high bacterial counts and even fecal contamination in the milk, most likely from poor hand hygiene,” Sarah A. Keim, PhD, MA, MS, of Nationwide Children’s Hospital, said in a press release. “We were also surprised a few samples contained salmonella. Other harmful bacteria may have come from the use of either unclean containers or unsanitary breast milk pump parts.”
The study included 101 Internet breast milk samples and 20 unpasteurized samples from a breast milk bank.
Seventy-four percent of Internet milk samples were colonized with gram-negative bacteria. Shipping also played a role in contamination of Internet milk samples with longer shipping time leading to more contaminated milk. Nineteen percent of Internet milk sellers did not include dry ice or another cooling method during shipping, leading to milk temperature being outside of the recommended range. Seventeen percent of the Internet samples had high levels of one or more bacteria.
“Our goal is to identify infant feeding practices that optimize child and maternal health,” Keim said. “In addition to lactation consultants who are available at hospitals and clinics, there are community-based lactation consultants and peer-support organizations where women can help each other. We will continue to study breast-feeding in the context of contemporary society since where and how infants are fed is rapidly changing.”
Disclosure: The study was funded in part by a grant from The Ohio State University Food Innovation Center and internal support from the Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital.
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