The Denver Post reports that one of the hottest commodities on the marketplace is breast milk – which some mothers are selling on the Internet for between a dollar and $2.50 per ounce, and that one for-profit company is actually selling for $48 an ounce.
“This is all going on with little regulation, raising ethical and safety questions,” the Post reports. “Such ventures are also prompting concerns that the steady flow of donated milk that nonprofit banks supply to hospitals and mothers could dry up.”
The reason for the heightened trade in breast milk is because of studies showing that it is better for babies than manufactured formula. But the question remains about whether the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) should be regulating the use of breast milk the same way it does human tissue and blood.
“This is all going on with little regulation, raising ethical and safety questions,” the Post reports. “Such ventures are also prompting concerns that the steady flow of donated milk that nonprofit banks supply to hospitals and mothers could dry up.”
The reason for the heightened trade in breast milk is because of studies showing that it is better for babies than manufactured formula. But the question remains about whether the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) should be regulating the use of breast milk the same way it does human tissue and blood.
- KC's View:
- Seems to us that the simple answer to this is “yes,” especially if certain companies are charging more than 12 times the amount for breast milk. While we are leery of new government regulations, this whole thing seems like the basis of a Stephen King novel.
