KIROTV.com - Money - Outdated Baby Formula Found On Store Shelves
Bebe Emerman KIRO 7 Consumer Investigator
POSTED: 3:38 pm PST February 16, 2005
"Many mothers breast-feed their infants, but many others can't or choose to use prepared baby formula to give their babies the nourishment they need. Consumer Investigator Bebe Emerman exposes why the packaged formula you're feeding your infant may be dangerous to his or her health. Millions of Washington babies depend on formula as their main source of nutrition. That's why it's the only food the government says must be pulled off store shelves after a certain date. But, as our investigation reveals, too often, local stores are ignoring the rules and selling old, outdated formula -- and there doesn't seem to be anyone around to stop them...."
MORE ON THIS STORY
Info from FDA
Outdated Forumal Info
Like many moms, Martha Ritola depends on commercial infant formula to keep 5-month-old Sydney happy and healthy.
'It's easy for me to feed her, it's easy for dad to feed her,' Ritola said. 'It's very accessible. You can go to about any stores including drug stores and they're going to have some kind of either generic or name brand formula that you're going to assume is safe for your baby.'
But is it? We sent our hidden camera into 28 grocery, drug and variety stores all over the Puget Sound region.
We combed the shelves, checking pull dates on dozens of cans of prepared infant formula.
What we found was scary.
Six of the stores had out-of-date formula for sale. That's more than 20%. In some cases, it was just a few weeks.
But hold on! The date on one can reads Jan 1, 2004, but we bought it in May -- which making it almost six months past the pull date.
'Considering that formula is the supplement for a child I guess that's the most upsetting thing,' said Rebecca Porter.
We asked members of this new parents group what they thought of our findings."
Wednesday, February 16, 2005
Tuesday, February 15, 2005
NIP AND DUCK: "
New York Post Online Edition: health
By ALISHA BERGER
February 15, 2005 -- "I showed Gov. Pataki my breast. In public. And he didn't bat an eye. I'm not a flasher — I'm a nursing mother. And generally a modest one. But when I decided to breastfeed my 15-week-old daughter, Anya, I quickly learned that to avoid being cloistered in my apartment for the next six months, I was going to have to take my milk to town. The idea terrified me. I imagined well-intentioned strangers approaching for a glimpse of the baby only to discover that my pink bundle of joy was milking me like a Jersey cow. And it hasn't always been easy. At Thanksgiving, my sister-in-law's European family shunned me. They actually fled the living room when I decided to unbutton for a post-Turkey feeding. My sister-in-law forbid me to nurse in front of her family after that — a decree she's refused to budge on...."
New York Post Online Edition: health
By ALISHA BERGER
February 15, 2005 -- "I showed Gov. Pataki my breast. In public. And he didn't bat an eye. I'm not a flasher — I'm a nursing mother. And generally a modest one. But when I decided to breastfeed my 15-week-old daughter, Anya, I quickly learned that to avoid being cloistered in my apartment for the next six months, I was going to have to take my milk to town. The idea terrified me. I imagined well-intentioned strangers approaching for a glimpse of the baby only to discover that my pink bundle of joy was milking me like a Jersey cow. And it hasn't always been easy. At Thanksgiving, my sister-in-law's European family shunned me. They actually fled the living room when I decided to unbutton for a post-Turkey feeding. My sister-in-law forbid me to nurse in front of her family after that — a decree she's refused to budge on...."
Breast-Feeding Could Provide Jury Exemption (washingtonpost.com)
(Free registration required)
By Rosalind S. Helderman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, February 15, 2005; Page B01
"RICHMOND, Feb. 14 -- When Pamela Greene told a Fairfax County judge she was breast-feeding her 4-month-old daughter last year, she expected to be excused from jury duty. Instead, the judge informed Greene that breast-feeding wouldn't be a problem: The court would take plenty of breaks. What followed was a two-day ordeal in which Greene said she spent every spare moment sitting on a toilet in the jury room restroom pumping breast milk. It was hard to get access to a refrigerator to keep the milk cold, and the bathroom felt unsanitary, she said...."
(Free registration required)
By Rosalind S. Helderman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, February 15, 2005; Page B01
"RICHMOND, Feb. 14 -- When Pamela Greene told a Fairfax County judge she was breast-feeding her 4-month-old daughter last year, she expected to be excused from jury duty. Instead, the judge informed Greene that breast-feeding wouldn't be a problem: The court would take plenty of breaks. What followed was a two-day ordeal in which Greene said she spent every spare moment sitting on a toilet in the jury room restroom pumping breast milk. It was hard to get access to a refrigerator to keep the milk cold, and the bathroom felt unsanitary, she said...."
The Globe and Mail: Flame retardants building up within us
By ANDRÉ PICARD
PUBLIC HEALTH REPORTER
Globe and Mail
Tuesday, February 15, 2005 - Page A19
"Those dust bunnies lurking under the bed may not be as innocuous as you think. New Canadian research shows that household dust is the principal source of exposure to flame retardants, a class of chemicals that has sparked a heated debate among scientists, some of whom believe regular exposure may lead to serious learning and developmental problems. Toddlers in particular are ingesting significant amounts of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), according to a study to be published in a forthcoming edition of the journal Environmental Science and Technology. "Dust is the greatest route of exposure to brominated flame retardants," said Miriam Diamond, a professor in the department of geography at the University of Toronto. "It makes a lot of sense. Toddlers are close to the ground, which is where many of those flame retardants are -- in carpets, in furniture. The chemicals accumulate in the dust." In her paper, Dr. Diamond estimates that the average urban Canadian ingests 155 to 1,965 nanograms daily of PBDEs, with the highest levels found in babies but decreasing as people age. (A nanogram is one-billionth of a gram.) But breast-feeding infants have much higher exposures, from 24 to 28,680 nanograms daily. Earlier research found that flame retardants are commonplace in the breast milk of Canadians but concluded that despite high levels, women should continue to breastfeed because the known benefits outweigh the known risks...."
By ANDRÉ PICARD
PUBLIC HEALTH REPORTER
Globe and Mail
Tuesday, February 15, 2005 - Page A19
"Those dust bunnies lurking under the bed may not be as innocuous as you think. New Canadian research shows that household dust is the principal source of exposure to flame retardants, a class of chemicals that has sparked a heated debate among scientists, some of whom believe regular exposure may lead to serious learning and developmental problems. Toddlers in particular are ingesting significant amounts of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), according to a study to be published in a forthcoming edition of the journal Environmental Science and Technology. "Dust is the greatest route of exposure to brominated flame retardants," said Miriam Diamond, a professor in the department of geography at the University of Toronto. "It makes a lot of sense. Toddlers are close to the ground, which is where many of those flame retardants are -- in carpets, in furniture. The chemicals accumulate in the dust." In her paper, Dr. Diamond estimates that the average urban Canadian ingests 155 to 1,965 nanograms daily of PBDEs, with the highest levels found in babies but decreasing as people age. (A nanogram is one-billionth of a gram.) But breast-feeding infants have much higher exposures, from 24 to 28,680 nanograms daily. Earlier research found that flame retardants are commonplace in the breast milk of Canadians but concluded that despite high levels, women should continue to breastfeed because the known benefits outweigh the known risks...."
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