This week Wal-Mart announced that baby formula was being pulled from the shelf  because it was consumed by a newborn infant which developed a fatal infection and died.

When a person dies from eating a commercial product, it’s certainly a terrible tragedy. But especially a child; not only because of the loss, but because the death could have easily been prevented if safe practices were actually used in producing food.

This story should get the attention of all parents. I’m pretty sure many will notice this story, but I don’t know that the majority will realize what’s really going on.

There’s one thing this story should tell everyone loud and clear:

Processed foods are not only unhealthy to consume, but downright deadly.

The FDA should take notice too, but I know for a fact they won’t do the responsible or ethical measure in this instance, which would be to fine and shut down the offending company who produced this product. According to Reuters, ”U.S. health regulators said on Friday they are looking at several types of baby formula that could be linked to the death of an infant, expanding an investigation beyond Mead Johnson’s market-leading Enfamil.” So what actually needs to happen is that multiple companies need to be fined and shut down.

Sadly, what will happen is that this company or companies will likely get a slap on the hand with a fine which they can easily absorb, and be allowed to continue selling products. Because that’s how the FDA rolls: they protect their own. The FDA will make an official statement about the safety of FDA-approved products on their web site and in press releases, saying that this was just a fluke, is being “taken care of”, and that other products are healthy and safe to consume.

For awhile, some parents might avoid the offending company or companies, but will continue to trust other big food companies who produce toxic formulas, and will keep buying them to feed to their babies. Until, that is, the next recall or death comes along.

Folks, this is not the first time this has happened, and I’m sorry to say it isn’t likely to be the last. In 2008, there was an incident in China with tainted baby formula. How many more incidents do we have to have before our government officials, food companies, and general public wake up to this inconvenient fact that processed foods are full of deadly ingredients that make many people sick and sometimes kill them too?  I’m here to tell you that food recall lists are miles and miles long, and they happen all the time. Don’t believe me? See for yourself. Doesn’t this speak volumes about the “safest food system in the world” (quote from the FDA web site)?

If, even after looking at the recall list, you still believe our food system is safe, here’s some startling statistics that will blow your socks off:

Every year there are 76 million cases of foodborne illness in the United States, resulting in 325,000 hospitalizations and 5,000 deaths. 

So, I ask this important question: are you really able to trust your health with these foods? How about your helpless, newborn baby?

What’s wrong with commercial formulas?

Commercial formulas are highly processed, subjected to high heat temperatures during manufacturing which corrupt fragile proteins, contain oxidized cholesterol and synthetic nutrients produced in a laboratory that your baby’s body cannot properly use, and are most often packed in cans lined in BPA – a known endocrine (hormone) disruptor.

Many so-called “hypoallergenic” formulas are made with processed soy – not traditionally fermented and contain estrogen – which are known endocrine disruptor and goitrogen (meaning it suppresses the thyroid), and contain anti-nutrients known as phytic acid which block mineral uptake and also leach minerals out of the body. Even organic formulas have some of these same issues. There has also been a chemical used to produce rocket fuel (percholate) found in baby formula!

Home made baby formula is nutritionally superior to commercial

Parents, please: if you are unable to breastfeed for any reason, and you want to be certain your infant gets what he or she really needs in the way of nutrients and support to be healthy during growth and development, take the time to make this nutrient-dense, home-made baby formula. It includes nourishing ingredients that are comparable to or superior to breast milk in nutritional value.

When using nourishing ingredients such as raw milk, yogurt, or kefir from healthy grassfed cows or foraging goats, fermented cod liver oil, this formula is nutritionally superior to anything you can buy on the market.  Composition of the mother’s diet absolutely has an effect on the nutritional profile of her breastmilk.  So if she is not eating a traditional foods diet replete with healthy fats and proteins, her milk will be nutritionally lacking.

If you want the hard, nutritional facts, here is a side-by-side comparison of nutrient content of the original home-made formula to breast milk, as well as goat’s formula and hypo-allergenic (liver-based) formulas. Foods like raw milk and dairy products such as yogurt, kefir, sour cream, butter, and other dairy foods, grassfed meats and poultry, eggs from hens on pasture, animal fats such as tallow and lard, seafood, organ meats, cod liver oil, and fish roe (eggs) have been traditionally consumed all over the world by many cultures to improve chances of conceiving, maintaining a healthy pregnancy, and during breast-feeding.

The Weston A. Price Foundation offers recommendations on dietary choices for pregnant or nursing mothers. These recommendations are based on the work of Dr. Weston A. Price who traveled the world in the 1930s to learn why his patients were experiencing degenerative disease as well as dental deformations and tooth decay. His findings indicated that those eating the most traditional diets including the foods mentioned above were not only the healthiest populations, but also had the highest fertility and carrying-to-term pregnancy rates.

These diets provided some of the most important nutrients necessary for life and keeping disease away: fat soluble Vitamins A, D, E, and K2, and Omega 3 essential fatty acids. These nutrients are in short supply in their natural, unadulterated forms in our modern food system. For more information, read Nutrition and Physical Degenerationby Dr. Weston A. Price.

“But”, you may protest, “the FDA says home-made formula isn’t safe!” Right, the FDA, who are so trustworthy.

Here’s what the FDA has to say about home made formula: 

Homemade formulas should not be used.” says Nick Duy, assistant to the director in FDA ‘s division of regulatory guidance. ”Homemade formulas based on whole cow’s milk don’t meet all of an infant’s vitamin and mineral needs. In addition, the high protein content of cow’s milk makes it difficult for an infant to digest and may put a strain on the baby’s immature kidneys. Substituting evaporated milk for whole milk may make formula easier to digest, but it is still nutritionally inadequate when compared to commercially prepared formula. Use of soy drinks as an infant formula can actually be life-threatening.”

Here’s the flaw in this argument:  The FDA does not mention the fact that many children are born with inadequate gut flora to properly digest and absorb the foods they eat, nor the fact those children have a dairy intolerance not because milk is inherently harmful, but because of this gut deficiency and also the fact that the majority of milk used is pasteurized and from cows on feedlots eating the worst imaginable diets, and is the most unnatural and unhealthy milk to consume.

So even if those same children consumed the all-safe and nutritious commercial formulas…guess what? They are still going to have problems with digesting those as well because they are not even made with real ingredients, and are loaded with toxic chemicals. When my son was born, he was 9 weeks premature. Back then, I knew almost nothing about nutrition and I had no idea how harmful commercial formula was. My breast milk didn’t come in because of the birth being premature due to a ruptured appendix. I was incredibly sick and resorted to store-bought formula. We went through every brand you could imagine, including soy because my son was always discontent, fussy, and had terrible colic. Looking back, I now know his issues were due to poor gut flora and the fact that he was malnourished.  It wasn’t because he had “colic”, a term frequently used by conventional doctors who usually don’t understand what causes colic in the first place.

Remarks made about evaporated milk and soy milk are true – they are most definitely inadequate nutritionally – but as far as saying they are not as nutritious as commercial formula, they are actually just as bad or worse.

“But”, you may protest yet again, “the FDA says raw milk isn’t safe for babies to consume!”

Here’s the flaw in this argument: there is no basis for this statement. People drank raw milk for thousands upon thousands of years, and fed it to their babies. Raw milk from healthy cows on pasture has always been and still is a life-giving food, and contains many nutrients, probiotics, enzymes, and proteins which prevent disease and illness. These are nutrients and elements which we are sorely lacking in our “safe” commercial and industrial food system. It’s a system which kills nutrients in food by its very practices each and every day due to filthy conditions, the use of antibiotics, high-heat, deodorization, alkalining, sanitizing, irradiation, and many other harsh, chemical, and toxic practices.

Using government statistics which reveal that there is only an average of 42 illnesses per year (not deaths) by those who consume raw milk, you are “about 35,000 times more likely to become ill from other foods than you are from raw milk.”  Once again, remember that statistic I posted earlier:

Every year there are 76 million cases of foodborne illness in the United States, resulting in 325,000 hospitalizations and 5,000 deaths. 

These and other sicknesses and deaths are not coming from raw milk from healthy cows on pasture. They are from cows on feedlots, and our industrial food system! Don’t believe me? Just reference the food recall list and you’ll find these are from larger, commercial facilities…not small, sustainable, family farms.

What’s the bottom line?

Don’t put your trust in big food companies, and don’t believe the marketing or studies paid for by these companies to say their products are healthy, nor the corrupt medical establishment and government which backs them up.  Cheap, toxic foods are never a good substitute for real, whole foods that deliver nutrition and heal our health, and our children’s future depends on this safe, reliable food system. Buy local, sustainable foods from farmers you trust, and be willing to cook and make meals from scratch.

More information about our food system: 

Food recalls – why they could mean the end of real food as we know it

Is cheap food really cheap? The hidden costs of  industrial food

1 in 4 meat packages tainted with pathogenic bacteria