Problems With Baby Formula Milk

Baby formula sold in country safe, says health minister

-The Star , 18/09/2008

KOTA BHARU: Baby formula milk sold in the country is safe, Health Minister Datuk Liow Tiong Lai said.

"Parents need not be worried about milk powder contaminated with melamine as is the case in China because Malaysia does not import baby formula milk from China," he told reporters after meeting Kelantan MCA members here yesterday.

According to reports, three infants have died and more than six thousand have fallen sick after after consuming milk contaminated with melamine, an industrial chemical used to make plastic cups and saucers.

other links:

http://www.myhealth.gov.my/myhealth/eng/template.jsp?showMe=28&storyid=1221791927141

http://www.myhealth.gov.my/myhealth/eng/template.jsp?showMe=28&storyid=1221720930282

Dr H's comments:-

Our babies nowadays facing numerous health risks since day 1 of life with formula milk. Besides hazards from BPA as discussed in previous article, contamination with melamine add to the lists of the problems.

Other well known risks documented in the medical literature are as below:

• Formula feeding accounts for up to 26% of insulin dependent diabetes mellitus in children.


• Otitis media (middle ear infection) is up to 3-4 times as prevalent in formula-fed infants.


• US Formula fed infants have a 10 fold risk of being hospitalized for any bacterial infection


• One sudden infant death for every 1000 live birth occurs as a result of failure to breastfeed in western industrialized nations.


• For every 1000 babies born in the U.Ss each year, four die because they are not breastfed.


• Scores on the Bayley Mental Development Index were lower in formula-fed children at 1-2 years of age. Scores were directly correlated with the duration of breastfeeding.


• Formula fed preterm infants had lower IQ scores (8 points) at age 7-8 years than breastfed premies, even after adjustment for mother's education and social class.


• Due to an excessive phosphate load in formula, formula fed infants face a 30 fold risk of neonatal hypocalcemic tetany (convulsions, seizures, twitching) during the first 10 days of life.


• Formula fed infants are at a high risk of exposure to life-threatening bacterial contamination. Enterobacter sakazakii is a frequent contaminant in powdered formula and can cause sepsis and meningitis in newborns

Reference: http://www.breastfeedingtaskforla.org/ABMRisks.htm

The lists keep accumulating from time to time. So why jeopardising your baby's future health with formula milk? Time to go back to nature..