In response to a call for ways in which the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) could advance the health needs of children, the United States Breastfeeding Committee submitted a letter detailing its concerns with the safety and efficacy of infant formula. In summary, the Committee seeks:
1. Adequate testing of new ingredients prior to their addition to infant formula and updated FDA review and approval procedures for those ingredients.
2. Close monitoring for adverse reactions to the products and a public report of those reactions.
3. Review and any necessary repudiation of the health claims made in the marketing of formula.
4. Advice to …read more

Calling all United States readers! It only takes 60 seconds to use this easy tool from the United States Breastfeeding Committee (USBC) to ask your representatives and senators to co-sponsor the Breastfeeding Promotion Act of 2009. Simply type in your name and address including zip code+4 and the USBC does the rest! Here are more details in an email you can forward to ask your friends to use the tool as well.

Both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the United States Breastfeeding Committee (USBC) have issued strong guidance on the importance of breastfeeding for protection against the H1N1 swine flu. The CDC states, “Infants who are not breastfeeding are particularly vulnerable to infection and hospitalization for severe respiratory illness.”
Thus, the CDC urges new mothers to initiate breastfeeding early and to feed frequently. Mothers already breastfeeding should continue to do so, even if they become ill. Formula feeding should be avoided or minimized and breastfeeding maximized. In the Health News Digest, USBC Chair Joan Younger Meek, MD, MS, …read more