There has been a surge in the demand of human breast milk owing to the recent craze for it amongst certain fitness communities, fetishists and chronic disease sufferers and to cash-in on the demand multiple online stores have cropped up. However, experts have issued a warning against purchase of such milk stating that procurement of such raw milk online or in an unpasteruised state exposes consumers to many health risks.
In an editorial published by the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, the authors, led by Dr Sarah Steele, of the Global Health and Policy Unit, Queen Mary University of London have warned that the claims of breast milk being superfood capable of treating erectile dysfunction and cancer have no clinical trail backing. The authors warn that not only are these claims baseless, but also state that human milk is potentially very hazardous if used to replace a healthy balanced diet.
Dr Steele explains that breast milk contains less protein than other milk like cow’s milk. Further, benefits of breast milk may have been established, but they have been done so in labs and not from bottles of breast milk that have been purchased online.
“Potential buyers should be made aware that no scientific study evidences that direct adult consumption of human milk for medicinal properties offers anything more than a placebo effect”, said Dr Steele.
As far as the safety of such milk is concerned, author warn of sanitation as one of the major issues that could end up infecting the milk. Failure of women to sanitise properly when expressing milk, the failure to sterilise equipment properly, and the improper or prolonged storage and transportation of milk can expose consumers to bacterial food-borne illnesses like any other raw milk, the researchers say.
Next is the lack of pasteurisation and testing that exposes consumers to bacterial infection as well as a host of other infectious diseases, including hepatitis, HIV and syphilis.
Then there is the case of improper storage, which could not only lead to increase in the risk of food-borne illness but also may introduce toxins into the milk. The authors note that many online sellers are selling to multiple clients, and thus are buying containers online, posing the risk of high levels of Bisphenol A, a synthetic chemical linked to health problems and banned for use in infant bottles in the EU and Canada, being present in the plastic.
Further, there are all the chances that alcohol, drugs (both prescription and illicit), tobacco and caffeine could pass into the milk alongside other environmental contaminants, meaning chemicals and toxins may be in the milk that those seeking ‘to eat clean’ are themselves shunning.
Chances are that milk bought online may also contain cow’s milk, water or another milk like soy, if the seller has added a substance to increase the selling volume, as most milk is sold by ounce volume.
“While many online mums claim they have been tested for viruses during pregnancy, many do not realise that serological screening needs to be undertaken regularly,” said Dr Steele. “Sexual and other activities in the postpartum period may expose the woman expressing to viruses that they may unwittingly pass on to consumers of the milk.”
The authors stress that breast milk purchased online is not optimal for adult nutrition or in the treatment of disease, as milk bought online poses more risks than proven benefits and hence human milk consumption by adults purchasing milk online is ill-advised.
The authors call for health professionals and regulators to issue public guidance against the purchasing of human milk from Internet sources for adult as well as infant feeding.
