Breast Milk For Sale Online May be Mixed With Cow's Milk, Study Reveals

You may want to think twice before you buy breast milk for your newborn online. A Yahoo! Parenting article revealed that "The Pediatrics" reported on Monday about a study on the likelihood of the inclusion of cow's milk in breast milk sold online.

Nationwide Children's Hospital researchers allegedly purchased 102 milk servings from online milk sharing sites. Along the way, these experts have found that 10 of the servings reportedly had "a level of bovine DNA consistent with human milk mixed with at least 10 percent fluid cow's milk."

Researchers from the mentioned institution documented these findings in their study records. These discoveries mean that milk sellers online added cow's milk to the breast milk servings for a purpose. Cow's milk may have been added to these servings either directly from a carton or an infant formula.

Researcher, Dr. Sarah Keim, was alarmed upon discovering the mentioned findings. She said in a press release, "This poses a risk to infants with an allergy or intolerance to cow's milk."

Meanwhile, In a blog published in The New York Times, Keim was quoted as being vocal about the health problems cow's milk poses on infants saying, "In a previous study, we found that a fifth of these people were online because their infants were having trouble tolerating cow's milk. Additionally, it is clearly not recommended for infants under 12 months to be on cow's milk."

A milk bank director revealed to USA Today that intake of cow's milk components poses risks of diarrhea and eczema to infants.

Keim revealed her insights as to why milk sharing suppliers online include cow's milk on breast milk servings for sale online: "Because money is exchanged in these transactions, there might be an incentive to boost milk volumes in order to make more money."

Dr. Keim's advice for breastfeeding mothers? "The simple answer is don't buy milk on the Internet. It's impossible to know that it's safe."

Furthermore, an article in The Daily Beast reported that approximately 20 percent of breast milk servings for sale online tested for cytomegalovirus components. These components are the number one sources of serious illnesses among infants.

Medical experts are worried that breast milk donors online might prone beneficiaries to drug and alcohol toxins. Hence, practitioners strongly recommend stringent screening to be done on potential online breast milk donors.