Online Breast Milk Can Be Dangerous, Experts Warn

Experts in paediatrics have said breast milk bought online may be contaminated and harmful to babies.

A researcher at the Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, Sarah Keim, said, “Human milk may be purposely topped off with cow’s milk or infant formula, and this could be harmful to babies receiving the purchased milk if they have cow’s milk allergy or intolerance.”

For other babies, she said, cow milk is not recommended as a primary source of nutrition because it does not provide complete nutrition for human infants.

“There really is no way a parent can tell if the milk they buy online is safe and high-quality,” Keim said. “Given the risks, it is not a good idea to feed your baby milk you purchase online.”

In a previous study, Keim and her colleagues found that breast milk samples bought online contained potentially harmful levels of bacteria and tested positive for a virus called cytomegalovirus.

President of the Human Milk Banking Association of North America, Kim Updegrove,said purchasing milk outside of standardised human milk banks is risky.

“When you have monetary incentive and you have women who may be desperate or may not know any better, you have a risk of getting something along with the milk you are purchasing,” she said.

“It is important to applaud parents who want to do what’s best for their babies, but (it’s good)to remind them that it’s a body fluid, and body fluids can be dangerous,” Updegrove said.

Besides cytomegalovirus, breast milk purchased online may contain viruses such as hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV, said Dr. Susan Landers, a neonatologist in Austin, Texas.

“You have no idea about drug use, then there’s this willy-nilly bacterial contamination and concerns about temperature stability, and now they’re diluting it with cow’s milk,” Landers said.