Milk, Marvellous Milk
A few weeks ago we came home from a wonderful two-week holiday in northern Spain with our daughter Rebecca and her partner Brian McIsaac. All of it was great: the ancient stones and remains of Roman walls and the sleek design or everything from the subway cars to the little street-cleaning vans, along with the exuberant architecture of Gaudi and others and inspiring art in Barcelona; the magnificent mountain scenery of the “pre-Pyrenees”, and the warm hospitality and memorable sculpture that we experienced in the Basque country.
We were greatly impressed by the Basque culture and its central role in their ongoing struggle for autonomy, and very lucky to be able to observe first-hand one example of the ecological farming systems the Basques have developed to reinforce their autonomy. The key is to match land, labour, and enterprise, so the 80 hectare farm we visited had 6 farmers (plus assorted offspring) milking 300 ewes (a local breed called Latxa which give about 200 litres/yr) and 40 cows and producing fresh milk, yoghurt, and both soft and hard cheese. They also raise 30 pigs (weaner to finish) and grow peppers (along with other vegetables, of course) and make wonderful chorizo sausages. The livestock management is all pasture-based, and the lambs are “sacrificed”, as they say, at 28 days and approximately 8 kg dressed. All the processing is on-farm and everything is sold direct – no wholesale whatsoever – under their collective “Ecological Agriculture” label or (to give you a tiny taste of the unique Basque language) “Euskadi Nekazarita Exologikoa”.
We ended our trip in Bilbao where unfortunately both Brewster and I picked up a stomach flu – relatively mild, thank goodness, and we found that the local yogurt was one thing that made us feel better. So when we arrived at our stopover in Montreal en route back to Ottawa, feeling tired and (finally!) hungry, we bought some Danone yogurt. We were surprised that it didn’t help at all, in fact it made us feel really queasy. Then we read the label, and regretted having not read it before. Ingredients: Skim milk, sugar, cream, modified milk ingredients, modified corn starch, pectin, natural flavour, active bacterial cultures, concentrated lemon juice, Vitamin D3.
By way of contrast, the organic local yogurt in our fridge contains: Unhomo-genized whole milk, bacterial cultures. Period.
Going through the backlog of journals when we got home, we found an article that shed a bit more light on Danone’s approach:
Danone, a major French and global food company, wants to use canola oil in the manufacturing of its infant formula because it has high levels of alpha-linolenic (omega 3) acid, but it had to wait for canola oil to achieve GRAS status (‘generally recognized as safe’) in infant formula from the US Food and Drug Administration. 90% of the US infant formula market is controlled now by Mead Johnson, Abbot Laboratories and Nestlé, and Danone wants in. The USA accounts for 30% of the global infant formula market. – Western Producer, 31/1/13
Within reason, manufacturers can put anything they like into formula. In fact, the recipe for one product can vary from batch to batch, according to the price and availability of ingredients. While we assume that formula is heavily regulated, no transparency is required of manufacturers: they do not, for example, have to log the specific constituents of any batch or brand with any authority.
Most commercial formulas are based on cow’s milk. But before a baby can drink cow’s milk in the form of infant formula, it needs to be severely modified. The protein and mineral content must be reduced and the carbohydrate content increased, usually by adding sugar. Milk fat, which is not easily absorbed by the human body, particularly one with an immature digestive system, is removed and substituted with vegetable, animal or mineral fats. . . .
Many formulas are also highly sweetened. While most infant formulas do not contain sugar in the form of sucrose, they can contain high levels of other types of sugar such as lactose (milk sugar), fructose (fruit sugar), glucose (also known as dextrose, a simple sugar found in plants) and maltodextrose (malt sugar). Because of a loophole in the law, these can still be advertised as ‘sucrose free’. Formula may also contain unintentional contaminants introduced during the manufacturing process. Some may contain traces of genetically engineered soya and corn. . . .
Soya formulas are of particular concern due to the very high levels of plant-derived oestrogens (phytoestrogens) they contain. In fact, concentrations of phytoestrogens detected in the blood of infants receiving soya formula can be 13,000 to 22,000 times greater than the concentrations of natural oestrogens. – Ecologist magazine, Suck on This: 4/06
Well, that got us thinking again about breastfeeding, which we have argued is a model of a sustainable food system. Breastmilk is designed for the needs of the infant – and changes in quality as well as quantity as those needs change. Similarly, if a food system is to be ecologically sustainable, breastfeeding requires no excess packaging, and no fossil fuels are used in its production. And crucially, it is about relationships as much as about food. Which makes one wonder why, when only a tiny minority of women are physically unable to nurse their infants, only about a quarter of women in Canada breastfeed for the recommended 6 months or more (though more than 87% initiate breastfeeding). Globally the rates are much lower, ranging from a low of 22% to a high of 45%. The formula companies would like to persuade us that this is a lifestyle choice. But then how many women get adequate maternity leave? What about the never-ending propaganda by Nestlé and other infant formula manufacturers, claiming that formula is equal to breastmilk? – just as GMOs are substantially equivalent to natural crops, we suppose.Actually, looking at the reasons women do not breastfeed gives us more insights into the real nature of the food system. We are aware of the control exercised over our food “choices” by corporations like Nestlé, Kraft, Cargill, Monsanto and so on. When we learn that some women do not breastfeed because their husbands insist that their wife’s body is their private property /plaything, not to be shared with some small intruder, we are also reminded of the corporate takeovers and ever-increasing concentration in the food system. Another reason is the internalized effects of sexual abuse, which adds nuance to the control exercised over farmers who have been vertically integrated, and also the abuse of land, seeds, farmworkers. Ironically, this abuse extends to the contamination of not just land but even breastmilk itself. And, of course, women who are not adequately nourished themselves cannot produce milk, any more than the peasants and fishers and herders and hunter/gatherers can provide food to their communities when they are denied access to their lands and waterways because they have been “grabbed” for industrial production for export and biofuels. (see also p. 5)
Nestlé buys Pfizer Nutrition
Now that the anti-trust regulatory process has been completed in most of the markets in which Pfizer Nutrition operates, Nestlé has completed its acquisition of the company for $11.5 billion. Approximately 4,500 employees are being integrated into the Nestlé Group. From the company’s statements it would appear to be fantastic news:“Pfizer Nutrition’s strong brands and product portfolio, together with its geographic presence, complements Nestlé’s Infant Nutrition business. 85% of its sales are in emerging markets, many of them with large, fast-growing populations. Building on our growth-focused strategy, global presence and pioneering research and development, the newly enlarged business will enhance our ability to become parents’ trusted partner, offering them a wider choice of nutritious food to ensure their children make a healthy start to a healthy life.” – WSJ, www.marketwatch.com, 3/12/1