Telegraph | News | Alert over bacteria in dried baby foods
By David Derbyshire, Science Correspondent
(Filed: 03/06/2004)
"Dried baby foods and infant formula contain disturbing levels of potentially harmful bacteria - including one linked to childhood meningitis - a survey has found. Although the risks to babies are tiny if products are prepared properly, poor kitchen hygiene could cause bacteria to multiply, with devastating consequences. Even doctors sometimes mistakenly believed that powdered infant formula was sterile, the chief scientist involved in the study said..."

College 'in the bag' for Washington infant
The Opelousas Daily World - Serving St. Landry Parish
William Johnson / Louisiana
Gannett News
Posted on May 31, 2004
"Lillian Albert of Washington holds her five-month-old son, Howard James Albert III, who is the recipient of a $25,000 scholarship from Mead Johnson Nutritionals, Inc. Howard James Albert III of Washington is only five months old, but his parents, Howard Jr. and Lillian Albert, are already planning his college career. ... Howard is the 16th recipient out of an anticipated 20 who will receive such scholarships through June 30.
[Now, you ask yourself, "Why is Mead Johnson giving away scholarships??" - JC] 'This is another example of our commitment to nourishing the potential of babies,' said Gail Wood with Mead Johnson Nutritionals. 'According to findings in the recent Enfamil LIPIL Smart Development Survey, 88 percent of new moms feel a college education is crucial to their child's ability to succeed later in life. 'However, only one third of moms surveyed are confident they will be able to afford the cost of tuition when the time comes. The ever-rising cost of a college education is a source of worry for many new parents.' [ Here it comes... - JC] When it comes time for Howard Albert III to hit the books, Enfamil, which Wood says contains a blend of additives that have been shown to promote brain and eye development, will get him off to a good start...." [Ah, there we go. To highlight Enfamil's ability to "promote brain and eye development" . Clever Mead Johnson. - JC]

Milk banks -- human milk for those in need

Birth Issues Summer 2004
by Jodine Chase
"Pop your head into the freezer of any breastfeeding mother and you'll spot a few bags or bottles of expressed breastmilk. Even stay-at-home, 24-7 moms have faced the possibility of separation from an exclusively breastmilk fed infant, and most express milk and set it aside in case the need arises. Some wind up with freezers full, literally. And what do you do with a freezer full of breast milk after baby has weaned? Twenty years ago in Edmonton, that milk could be donated to the University Hospital's breast milk bank. Today? From time to time donation requests are carried via Edmonton's lactating underground and women empty their freezers to meet the need. In recent years women have offered donor milk for a baby whose mom was unexpectedly hospitalized, for a cancer patient unable to tolerate any other food, and for a foster baby failing to thrive...."

Probiotic May Block HIV from Breast Milk
Tue 25 May, 2004 21:51
By Karla Gale
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)
"Lactobacillus, a benign gut microbe that helps prevent more serious infections such as diarrhea in children, could become a weapon in the war on AIDS. Colonizing an infant's digestive tract with the so-called 'probiotic' may protect them from being infected with HIV present in breast milk, according to a report at the American Society for Microbiology general meeting in New Orleans. With the success of treating HIV-infected mothers before delivery to prevent transmission of the virus to the baby, breast-feeding is now the major route by which infants do become infected in Africa..."