Formula for risk

Imitating mother's milk has a down side.

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Hi, it's Anna in Virginia. Baby formula makers want people to think that their products are closer to breast milk than ever before. But in investigating the recent global formula recalls, I learned you shouldn't believe the hype. More on that shortly, but first ...   Today's must-reads Scientists have identified 22 genes tied to complications from the "kissing disease." Novo needs to guard against an obesity drug price war, its chairman says. Opinion: Health care is just as dangerous an economic threat as AI. Formula for risk French authorities are investigating the deaths of two babies and US officials are looking into dozens of infant hospitalizations, all potentially related to contaminated formula. The risks prompted huge recalls by ByHeart in the US because of botulism and Nestlé, Danone and others in Europe because of a toxin called cereulide. One thing the recalls have in common: each features bacteria that was found in an ingredient the companies buy. Another is that these companies are each trying to promote their products as having some of the same benefits as breast milk. My colleagues in London and Switzerland and I took a look at the expanding, and increasingly risky, supply chain that the growing ambition to mimic mother's milk requires. You can read our Big Take here. What struck me as I reported this out is that many of the claims that formula makers are all jockeying to fill their labels with about being "closest to breast milk" don't hold up. We spoke to several infant formula experts who all questioned the ability of companies to engineer formula in any way that offers the same benefits as breast milk. Formula companies are adding fatty acids and prebiotics found in breast milk, they say, to promote development and the gut microbiome. They make claims about "brain building" and "immune support." The thing is, formula experts told us, breast milk contains thousands of bioactive compounds — ingredients that babies don't need necessarily to live but that promote wellness. So what does adding a few synthetic ones to formula in isolation really do? Lars Bode, director of the University of California San Diego's Human Milk Institute, alerted me to a paper he and other researchers published earlier this month that examined what he called the "hottest commodity in the infant formula business." These are complex carbohydrates called human milk oligosaccharides, or HMOs. Infant formula companies large and small tout these prebiotics in their marketing. But what Bode and others found is that there isn't yet evidence that the handful of HMOs being added to formula are beneficial. They did see some potential benefit for premature babies. This doesn't mean they can't eventually help all infants, but more research is needed. This begs the question, why are formula makers adding these to their products if there isn't a proven benefit? Is it worth having a wider supply chain with a growing number of points where contamination can find its way in? — Anna Edney What we're reading Nursing homes dodged higher staffing requirements after giving Trump's super PAC money, the New York Times reports. A devastating tale about the need for childhood vaccines in the Bulwark. Night owls are more likely to face heart issues, NBC News reports. Contact Prognosis Health questions? Have a tip that we should investigate? Contact us at AskPrognosis@bloomberg.net. Follow us You received this message because you are subscribed to Bloomberg's Prognosis newsletter. If a friend forwarded you this message, sign up here to get it in your inbox. Unsubscribe Bloomberg.com Contact Us Bloomberg L.P. 731 Lexington Avenue New York, NY 10022 |