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Article
Publication date: 1 August 2004

S. Sarkar

An attempt has been made to appraise the nutritional uniqueness of breast milk for infants. Colostrum, being rich in nutritional attributes, must be offered to infants after…

2379

Abstract

An attempt has been made to appraise the nutritional uniqueness of breast milk for infants. Colostrum, being rich in nutritional attributes, must be offered to infants after birth. Advantages proclaimed by breast milk are better digestibility, absorption, intestinal and brain development and protection of children from getting over‐weight. Feeding of fresh breast milk rather than stored or boiled milk is suggested to avoid nutritional losses. Human milk does not completely satisfy the nutritional requirement of infants over three months old and is required to be supplemented with solid foods. Technological innovations made in commercial infant milk powder have not been able to meet the critical nutritional requirements of infants. Since no formulae can duplicate breast milk completely, governmental regulations therefore should stress the importance of breast feeding.

Details

Nutrition & Food Science, vol. 34 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0034-6659

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 December 2003

S. Sarkar

Breast milk is considered superior over other modified infant formulae owing to its numerous intrinsic characteristics and pre‐eminence. However, breast milk is nutritionally…

1008

Abstract

Breast milk is considered superior over other modified infant formulae owing to its numerous intrinsic characteristics and pre‐eminence. However, breast milk is nutritionally inadequate for low‐birth weight infants and infants fed exclusively on breast milk are at the risk of getting infected with HIV‐1 and transmitted drugs in breast milk due to sterility of mothers at the time of pregnancy. In absence or insufficient secretion, breast milk stored at human milk banks or various developed infant formulae may be a practical substitute. Microbiological safety of breast milk from human milk banks is governed by the conditions of its collection and storage, whereas method of reconstitution and sterilization of equipments influences the quality of infant formulae. Under this circumstances various specially developed cultured milk products can be recommended for feeding both normal and sick infants. This paper enlightens the recent research innovations in the field of cultured milk products for feeding infants in absence of breast milk.

Details

Nutrition & Food Science, vol. 33 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0034-6659

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 June 2004

S. Sarkar

An attempt has been made to appraise the therapeutic uniqueness of breast milk for infants. Colostrum being rich in therapeutic attributes must be offered to infants after birth…

655

Abstract

An attempt has been made to appraise the therapeutic uniqueness of breast milk for infants. Colostrum being rich in therapeutic attributes must be offered to infants after birth to confer immunity to infective agents in the new environment. Feeding of fresh breast milk rather than stored or boiled milk is suggested to avoid therapeutic losses. Therapeutic advantages proclaimed by breast milk are in prevention of various diseases and allergy. Feeding of infants with infant milk formulae may pose health risks arising from faulty methods of preparation, sterilization of utensils and improper storage conditions of reconstituted milk. Breast milk is considered superior over other modified infant milk formulae owing to its various inherent therapeutic attributes.

Details

Nutrition & Food Science, vol. 34 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0034-6659

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 9 May 2016

Marwa Sallam, Iman Wali, Abd El Fattah Attia, Wael Lotfy, Amal El Taweel and Nayra Shaker Mehanna

Breast milk has been hypothesized to be a source of bacteria for the infant gut. This paper aims to search for probiotic bacteria among 415 isolates belonging to the Enterococcus…

Abstract

Purpose

Breast milk has been hypothesized to be a source of bacteria for the infant gut. This paper aims to search for probiotic bacteria among 415 isolates belonging to the Enterococcus, Lactobacillus, Streptococcus and Bifidobacterium genera recovered from breast milk of 50 lactating mothers and their respective infant stools, and then, determine whether their levels in stools vary with different modalities of breast feeding.

Design/methodology/approach

To prove that the isolates were probable probiotics, subtractive screening was done using three major selection criteria, namely, resistance to low pH, tolerance against bile salts and testing for their antimicrobial activity.

Findings

The three criteria were fulfilled by 31.7 and 31 per cent of the isolates recovered from mothers’ breast milk and infants’ stool specimens, respectively. The majority of probiotic strains, isolated from milk and infants’ stools were phenotypically identical, suggesting breast milk as their probable source. Moreover, there was a positive correlation between exclusive breast milk feeding and the number of probiotics in the infants’ stools.

Originality/value

Viable bacteria could be retrieved from breast milk of healthy women, not suffering from mastitis, by using different types of media and different cultivation conditions. Up to five different species belonging to the same genus could be isolated in the same specimen of whether milk or stools. Breast milk could be a source of probiotic bacteria for intestinal microflora of infants, which help improvement of infants’ gut and growth.

Details

Nutrition & Food Science, vol. 46 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0034-6659

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 17 July 2009

S. Sarkar

Breast milk is considered the optimum food for infants during infancy. Pesticide residues may get transferred to infants through breast feeding and pose various serious health…

503

Abstract

Purpose

Breast milk is considered the optimum food for infants during infancy. Pesticide residues may get transferred to infants through breast feeding and pose various serious health hazards. This paper aims to enumerate various pesticides that are present in breast milk and pose potential health risk to breast‐fed infants.

Design/methodology/approach

An attempt is been made to highlight various sources of pesticide exposure, their mechanism of transfer to breast milk and the possible health hazards to breast‐fed infants. Techniques to reduce the incidence of pesticides in foods are also outlined.

Findings

The exposure of lactating mothers to pesticides from various sources and their detection in breast milk poses various health risks to breast‐fed infants. Infants and younger children are more prone to pesticide poisoning than adults due to quantitative differences in absorption, metabolism, detoxification and excretion.

Practical implications

Adopting precautionary measures and minimising the application of persistent organic pollutants, breast milk could be prevented from pesticide exposure and thus could be recommended safe for infant feeding.

Originality/value

The paper shows that the protection of mothers from pesticide exposure would reduce the incidence of pesticides in breast milk, thus conferring health safety to breast‐fed infants.

Details

Nutrition & Food Science, vol. 39 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0034-6659

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 4 February 2014

S. Sarkar

Breast milk is considered as the most ideal food for infants during infancy owing to its diverse nutritional and therapeutic attributes. In the absence of breast milk, infants may…

597

Abstract

Purpose

Breast milk is considered as the most ideal food for infants during infancy owing to its diverse nutritional and therapeutic attributes. In the absence of breast milk, infants may be offered with cow's, buffalo's or goat's milk after modification to bring their composition nearer to human milk. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach

Risks associated with prolonged and exclusive breast feeding or unmodified cow's, buffalo's or goat's milk have been highlighted. In the absence of human milk, the suitability of modified cow's, buffalo's or goat's milk as a supplementary food for infants is also justified.

Findings

Breast milk is the most preferred food for infants owing to its numerous intrinsic therapeutic and nutritional attributes. Human milk is virtually impossible to mimic completely, and therefore, goat's milk is often preferred over cow's milk or buffalo's milk due to its better digestibility, higher biological value and less allergenic. An appropriate blending of protein, carbohydrate, fat, minerals and vitamins to cow's, buffalo's or goat's milk to result in modified milk, nutritionally adequate for infants is suggested.

Originality/value

Nutritional and therapeutic attributes of cow's, buffalo's or goat's milk must be suitably modified to meet the physiological needs as well as to confer protection to the infants.

Details

Nutrition & Food Science, vol. 44 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0034-6659

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 February 2002

M.N. Anokwulu

Reviews the various ways of feeding infants from birth to one year since what an infant eats at this stage in life is crucial to his/her future health. Critically discusses the…

1367

Abstract

Reviews the various ways of feeding infants from birth to one year since what an infant eats at this stage in life is crucial to his/her future health. Critically discusses the various practices of feeding infants, which are breast‐feeding, artificial feeding, mixed feeding, and weaning. Reports on the investigations done in various countries of Europe, North America, some countries in South America, Africa and Asia. Suggests the proper ways of infant feeding based on the investigations and recommendations from WHO and UNESCO; then concludes that breast‐feeding is the best method of infant feeding and the best time to start weaning infants is between five and six months old.

Details

Nutrition & Food Science, vol. 32 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0034-6659

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 17 July 2009

S. Sarkar

Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) have become widespread pollutants and now represent a global contamination problem. The presence of POPs in human serum and adipose tissues…

811

Abstract

Purpose

Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) have become widespread pollutants and now represent a global contamination problem. The presence of POPs in human serum and adipose tissues have raised public concern regarding their possible role as important etiologic agents in the development of human cancer. This paper aims to investigate the extent of environmental contamination with pesticides and their association with women's risk of breast cancer.

Design/methodology/approach

Various stages of carcinogenesis (initiation, promotion, progression), causes and risk factors associated with breast cancer are delineated. A possible mechanism of xenoestrogen and its association with breast cancer incidences in women is included. Recommendations for reducing breast cancer risks in women are also given.

Findings

Epidemiological studies have revealed that persistent pesticide residues in human serum and adipose tissues may increase women's risk of breast cancer. Women are at a greater risk than men of pesticide exposure. The association between organochlorine compounds and breast cancer is a controversial issue and there exists an exigency to execute extensive worldwide epidemiological studies under identical conditions of detected compounds, blood sampling procedures and analytical techniques to achieve conclusive results.

Practical implications

Women's risk of breast cancer associated with pesticide residues could be subjugated by avoiding prolonged occupational exposures, adopting precautionary measures, and changing lifestyle and dietary habits.

Originality/value

The paper shows that restrictions on the application of POPs and the avoidance of prolonged occupational exposure would result in lower concentrations of POP in blood, serum and adipose tissue, thus minimising women's risk of breast cancer.

Details

Nutrition & Food Science, vol. 39 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0034-6659

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 March 1976

O.G. Brooke

The DHSS report on Present Day Practice in Infant Feeding, published in 1974, met with muted publicity, but eventually questions in Parliament led to a statement by the Health…

Abstract

The DHSS report on Present Day Practice in Infant Feeding, published in 1974, met with muted publicity, but eventually questions in Parliament led to a statement by the Health Minister to the effect that National Dried Milk was no longer recommended for infant feeding. This announcement was premature, in that no acceptable substitute had (or has) been produced by the Government for distribution in the Infant Welfare Clinics, and it was pounced upon by the press, which made the most of the possible dangers of National Dried and other well established infant milks (such as Cow and Gate Full‐ and Half‐cream, Ostermilk Golden, and Carnation). The result has been a great deal of needless anxiety among the numerous mothers who are successfully rearing their babies on these milks. It may strike the reader as unlikely that milks which have been in widespread use since the 1940s, and on which many thousands of babies have grown well and in good health, could be in any respect dangerous. Such scepticism is quite justifiable. The purpose of this article is to explain the differences between the older infant milks including National Dried Milk and the new generation of ‘humanised’ milks, and to show where dangers could lie in the earlier preparations.

Details

Nutrition & Food Science, vol. 76 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0034-6659

Article
Publication date: 1 February 1975

One of the arguments used against British entry to the EEC was the loss of sovereignty; that Parliament would not be able to fully control all the statutory measures which would…

Abstract

One of the arguments used against British entry to the EEC was the loss of sovereignty; that Parliament would not be able to fully control all the statutory measures which would be applied to the people. EEC regulations apply without implementation by national governments, but since member‐states, through their representatives on Council and Commission, have participated, it is considered that national governments have in effect enacted them. EEC Directives as the name implies requires national governments to apply the provisions of the EEC measure; transitional exemptions up to five years are usually included for individual provisions, where internal adjustment is required. MAFF food regulations, implementing EEC Directives, have been made after this pattern for a number of food additives. The statutory measures are unlikely to present any greater difficulties than usual, but in interpretation, courts in this country have to consider EEC law above that of English and Scottish courts. The Court at Luxemburg exists mainly for interpretation, but courts and litigants have been advised against reference owing to the lengthy delays and the high court or court of sessions should make is interpretation based on EEC law.

Details

British Food Journal, vol. 77 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0007-070X

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