Patent # 8703173, "Newborn infant formulas and feeding methods"
owned by University College of London
inventors: Atul Singhal & Alan Lucas
Adverse health effects of infant formula? What? Obesity? Diabetes? We have recently been besieged by articles that state that infant formula is just as good as breastfeeding. I wonder how many people believe those articles? Articles written by well-educated women who supposedly breastfed their babies, who scoff at breastfeeding as an important health care decision. Instead they relegate breastfeeding to a life-style choice. Of course, none of these authors have read the infant formula patents which state the need to make a better product because of the adverse effects of their current infant formula. Patents from the 1950s til 2015, continue to express the need to change the formula to make it a better product with less adverse health effects. Despite the current use of genetic engineering to improve the product, the product still seems to have its problems. One would suppose that the industry would give up on trying to make their product like their gold standard, human milk. But they continue on, revamping and changing infant formula to suit the current trends in research. In the late 1990s, it was DHA and ARA (made from gmo algae and fungi), an imitation of what is naturally in breastmilk. Now its Human milk Oligosaccharides (the real thing or gmo). What next? Who knows? There are thousands of components in human milk, so I imagine that this game can go on and on for some time. Of course, when will people, particularly those in the health care; wise up to the game? Parents need to know what kind of product they are serving their infants. It's no secret that infant formula has risks, yet no one seems to be willing to talk openly about those risks. The public presumes that any risks of infant formula are related to developing nations or mothers in poverty. Yet we know from many studies over the years, that those risks still exist in wealthier nations.
Well, here's some patents from various infant formula companies regarding their product and the ramifications of the use of their product.
"Many studies show that type I diabetes is related to cow's milk consumption and neonatal feeding practices (2,10). In the case-control studies (including a study conducted in the Juvenile Diabetes Unit of the Rambam Medical Center, Haifa, Israel) patients with type I diabetes were more likely to have been breast-fed for less than 3 months and to have been exposed to cow's milk proteins before 3 months of age (3)."
Patent #6399090, "Insulin supplemented infant formula"
filed in 2001, owned by Insotech Ltd, Israel
"It has been suggested that systemic low-grade inflammation and a sub-optimal gut microbiota may be implicated in the development of obesity (Fantuzzi G. 'Adipose tissue, adipokines, and inflammation' J Allerg Clin Immunol. 2005; 115:911-919, Backhed F, Ding H, Wang T, et al "The gut microbiota as an environmental factor that regulates fat storage" Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 2004, 101: 15718-15723."
and same patent,
"Given the characteristic gut microbiota of breast-fed infants and the associated health benefits such as protection against infections, there is a real need to develop formulas with similar properties to human milk to ensure the infants who cannot be breast-fed obtain at least some of the beneficial effects conferred by human milk."
Patent # 9131721, "Gut microbiota in infants"
owned by Nestec (Nestle), filed 2008
"For example little is known about the effects of ingredients in the infant formulae on obesity later in life."
Patent #8871218, "Infant nutritional compositions for preventing obesity"
owned by N.V. Nutricia (Netherlands-infant formula company), filed 2012
"It has been found that the administration of DHA and ARA, or a source thereof, in infants can increase lean body mass and reduce fat body mass, when compared to an unsupplemented control formula, without impacting the total overall growth of the infant. This method is especially useful in preterm infants."
Patent #9040075, "Method of increasing lean body mass and reducing body fat mass in infants"
owned by Abbott Laboratories, filed in 2005
***"Breast fed children tend to be heatlhier, with lower incidence of allergy and infectious disease, and tend to be leaner than formula-fed children."
Patent #8314061, "Adiponectin for treatment of various disorders"
Owned by Children's Hospital Medical Center (Cincinnati, Ohio) and University of Massachusetts, filed in 2007
*** Inventors Ardythe L Morrow, Lisa J Martin, and David S Newburg. Morrow and Newburg have in the past been funded by Mead Johnson. This patent is based on research on human milk donated to the Cincinati Children's Research Human Milk Bank (which is associated with HMBANA milk bank in Ohio) and human milk donated in the Mexican Human Milk Study. Yes, Adiponectin is in human milk.
Infant feeding choice, whether actual choice or a defacto choice because of breastfeeding problems, should mean that we understand the ramifications of our decision-making. We should be fully informed. Instead I see all these newspaper articles that make infant feeding choices seem like a lifestyle choice.
Copyright 2015 Valerie W. McClain
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