Letter to the Editor of Taste for Life magazine
I finally got around to writing a letter about this. Here it is for your reading pleasure. :-)
Dear Ms. Frost:
I have had the May issue of Taste for Life sitting on my desk for weeks, trying to find the time to write to you about a small article on page 15 entitled "One Smart Fat". I have a couple of comments on the statement made by Greg Cole, PhD neuroscientist at UCLA, about DHA (docosahexaenoic acid).
Dr. Cole is quoted: "[We are] doubly excited to get this result with a treatment that has already been proven so safe in humans that it is added to infant formulas."
First - Dr. Cole's statement is a bit misleading at least and nescient at worst, especially for a neuroscientist. Of course DHA is safe for humans - it's a component of breastmilk! The fact that your article states that "DHA helps prevent depression, learning disorders, and visual problems" would seem to warrant at least a mention that humans should be fed DHA as well as ARA (arachidonic acid), another fatty acid being added to infant formulas, in their earliest years through their own mothers' milk. Instead, Dr. Cole seems to be touting artificial man-made infant formulas - which, not surprisingly, are considered inferior to human milk, even by the manufacturers through their own admission ("Breast is best, but...") and so clearly demonstrated by their continuing efforts to replicate human milk.
I was really surprised not to see at least a mention of breastmilk in an article about DHA in a magazine devoted to organic, natural foods and the overall health of its readers and their families. Rather than
encouraging the use of artificially manufactured additives derived from fish oil (both DHA and ARA), fermented microalgae (DHA) and soil fungus (ARA), why not include a positive statement about breastfeeding in that article? Why not use your magazine as a forum to encourage mothers to feed their babies the ONLY true natural food for babies?
Second - Dr. Cole's statement about DHA having been "proven" safe is misleading. At this point, the FDA has merely given DHA a GRAS (generally regarded as safe) designation for food applications. The FDA has
allowed this additive in artificial infant formula after reviewing research conducted by the manufacturers of DHA and ARA. No independent research has been conducted by the FDA or anyone else. All the research up to this point has been done by the manufacturers of DHA and ARA and the formula-manufacturing companies who are adding it to their products. In other words, we are being notified through the FDA that the manufacturer believes their product is safe. Do you feel reassured by that? I
don't.
One alarming aspect of this whole GRAS additives issue is that the FDA has stated that "it is the continuing responsibility of Martek [a manufacturer of DHA from microalgae] to ensure that food ingredients that the firm markets are safe. A similar burden has been placed on the formula
manufacturers to conduct post-market surveillance of infant formula on the millions of babies who have now consumed this substance that has not been evaluated by any independent agency. Does that seem reassuring to you? The babies who are being fed these formulas are, in essence, guinea pigs in an uncontrolled experiment that does not include informed consent for the parents who are unaware that even the FDA has not evaluated or approved these ingredients!
I urge any of your readers who are interested in this issue to do their own research... read the FDA's letters available on their website. Or start with this article by the National Alliance for Breastfeeding
Advocacy: http://www.naba-breastfeeding.org/images/DHA%20article.pdf
Thank you.
Cecilia Mitchell Miller
Certified Childbirth Educator (AAHCC)
Certified Birth Doula (DONA)
CAPPA-trained Lactation Educator
Jacksonville, FL
Dear Ms. Frost:
I have had the May issue of Taste for Life sitting on my desk for weeks, trying to find the time to write to you about a small article on page 15 entitled "One Smart Fat". I have a couple of comments on the statement made by Greg Cole, PhD neuroscientist at UCLA, about DHA (docosahexaenoic acid).
Dr. Cole is quoted: "[We are] doubly excited to get this result with a treatment that has already been proven so safe in humans that it is added to infant formulas."
First - Dr. Cole's statement is a bit misleading at least and nescient at worst, especially for a neuroscientist. Of course DHA is safe for humans - it's a component of breastmilk! The fact that your article states that "DHA helps prevent depression, learning disorders, and visual problems" would seem to warrant at least a mention that humans should be fed DHA as well as ARA (arachidonic acid), another fatty acid being added to infant formulas, in their earliest years through their own mothers' milk. Instead, Dr. Cole seems to be touting artificial man-made infant formulas - which, not surprisingly, are considered inferior to human milk, even by the manufacturers through their own admission ("Breast is best, but...") and so clearly demonstrated by their continuing efforts to replicate human milk.
I was really surprised not to see at least a mention of breastmilk in an article about DHA in a magazine devoted to organic, natural foods and the overall health of its readers and their families. Rather than
encouraging the use of artificially manufactured additives derived from fish oil (both DHA and ARA), fermented microalgae (DHA) and soil fungus (ARA), why not include a positive statement about breastfeeding in that article? Why not use your magazine as a forum to encourage mothers to feed their babies the ONLY true natural food for babies?
Second - Dr. Cole's statement about DHA having been "proven" safe is misleading. At this point, the FDA has merely given DHA a GRAS (generally regarded as safe) designation for food applications. The FDA has
allowed this additive in artificial infant formula after reviewing research conducted by the manufacturers of DHA and ARA. No independent research has been conducted by the FDA or anyone else. All the research up to this point has been done by the manufacturers of DHA and ARA and the formula-manufacturing companies who are adding it to their products. In other words, we are being notified through the FDA that the manufacturer believes their product is safe. Do you feel reassured by that? I
don't.
One alarming aspect of this whole GRAS additives issue is that the FDA has stated that "it is the continuing responsibility of Martek [a manufacturer of DHA from microalgae] to ensure that food ingredients that the firm markets are safe. A similar burden has been placed on the formula
manufacturers to conduct post-market surveillance of infant formula on the millions of babies who have now consumed this substance that has not been evaluated by any independent agency. Does that seem reassuring to you? The babies who are being fed these formulas are, in essence, guinea pigs in an uncontrolled experiment that does not include informed consent for the parents who are unaware that even the FDA has not evaluated or approved these ingredients!
I urge any of your readers who are interested in this issue to do their own research... read the FDA's letters available on their website. Or start with this article by the National Alliance for Breastfeeding
Advocacy: http://www.naba-breastfeeding.org/images/DHA%20article.pdf
Thank you.
Cecilia Mitchell Miller
Certified Childbirth Educator (AAHCC)
Certified Birth Doula (DONA)
CAPPA-trained Lactation Educator
Jacksonville, FL