Cheese Recall; Breast Milk

[L.T.]

http://www.slashfood.com/2010/01/12/...-and-others%2F

Minnesota-based manufacturer Parkers Farm, Inc is recalling several of its products because they may contain Listeria monocytogenes, an organism that can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections. National markets that carry Parker Farm products -- including Shop Rite, Path Mark, Wal-Mart, Target, Price Chopper, and Whole Foods -- are being affected.

The risk of a healthy adult becoming ill is very small. Short-term symptoms include headache, fever, stiffness nausea, cramping and diarrhea. But the young, frail, elderly and those with compromised immune systems are more susceptible. The bacterium is especially dangerous if eaten by pregnant women as it can cause miscarriages and still births.

According to the CDC, approximately 2,500 people per year become seriously ill with listerosis and of those 500 die. As of this posting, no one has yet come forward claiming to be ill from the tainted products.

The recalled products, which number in the dozens, include peanut butter, bagel spreads, dips, cheeses and salsas. For a complete list of products, please visit the FDA's website.

Consumers with questions can call Parkers Farm directly at (800) 869-6685.

Breast Milk Not Better Than Bottled-Report
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/he...st-claims.html

When Leigh Devine, a video producer and director, had her daughter Harper, she was determined to breast-feed despite a busy travel schedule. “I felt very guilty about not being able to breast-feed when I was away,” she recalls. “I'd carry my pump everywhere -- in bathrooms, on planes, quiet conference rooms -- wherever I could go to pump, I did. I wanted to get every drop out of my body and into hers.”

Like so many mothers, Devine received the message loud and clear from the medical community and mothering groups that breast milk is healthier and better for babies than formula. Now, a new Norwegian analysis of more than 50 studies has challenged this belief.

Professor Sven Carlsen, who led the Norwegian team that published the study, said: "Baby formula is as good as breast milk." He also said that breastfed children are not healthier because they were fed naturally, but because the conditions in their mother's womb tended to be better.

In their analysis, Carlsen’s team speculated that women who breastfed were more likely to have a healthy hormone balance while pregnant and this, rather than mothers' milk, has the greatest affect on a child’s health. The researchers found no proof that breast-feeding reduces the risk of asthma or allergies, despite the fact that many other studies have shown otherwise. The only benefit from breast-feeding supported by genuine evidence is a "small IQ advantage," Carlsen said.

Many medical experts immediately dismissed the findings as inaccurate and unproven. "This is a new and largely untested theory that does not seem to be supported by any good epidemiological evidence," Charlotte Wright, spokesman for the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, told The Telegraph.

Laura Corio, a top New York obstetrician also weighed in. “This goes against a huge body of published and peer reviewed research,” she said. “Women should certainly not stop breast-feeding based on what this one study says.”

In fact, the American Dietetic Association released a paper late last year outlining the numerous, scientifically proven benefits of breast-feeding for babies, including a stronger immune system to fight infections, reduced risk of sudden infant death syndrome and lower incidence of chronic diseases later in life, such as obesity and diabetes. And, Corio points out, there are benefits for nursing mothers as well. Studies show that women who breast-feed have improved bone density, are more likely to return to their pre-pregnancy weight and are less likely to experience postpartum depression.

Devine says that no matter what the science shows, she’s glad she breastfed her daughter -- now five -- for more than six months. “Beyond the milk itself, the process is was emotionally meaningful for the baby and for me. It also got me focused on the nutrition I was consuming and passing on and I think that was good for us both.”