Specimen plastic containers used to store expressed breast milk in neonatal care units: A case of precautionary principle

Abstract

Breast milk is the only milk that meets both the nutritional and immunitary needs of infants. Since breastfeeding is widely promoted, public health measures to preserve the nutritional qualities of expressed breast milk (EBM) should be applied in hospital care settings. The Health Technology Assessment Unit (HTAU) of the Centre hospitalier universitaire de Québec was requested by the Neonatal Care Unit to assess the acceptability of a plastic specimen container, designed to harvest tissues and body fluids, for storing collected EBM. An evidence-based public health perspective approach was taken to evaluate the safety of the specimen container. The HTAU recommended that plastic specimen containers no longer be used for storing EBM and that other options should be evaluated for neonatal care units. These recommendations are in accordance with the public health precaution principle and with legal considerations.

Should formula for infants provide arachidonic acid along with DHA? A position paper of the European Academy of Paediatrics and the Child Health Foundation

“…Moreover, studies reviewed above indicate that the provision of high DHA intakes without balanced amounts of ARA may induce undesirable effects in infants, such as reduced ARA levels in brain tissue, suboptimal neurodevelopment and potentially also adverse effects on growth and immune development (58). Under conditions where scientific evidence cannot resolve uncertainty regarding possible risks for exposed populations, the precautionary principle is applied to prevent harm (59,60). Therefore, we recommend that infants should not be fed formula with high DHA contents but without ARA unless a thorough evaluation of this novel approach has been performed and evaluated by independent scientific experts.…”

Review of current best practices for human milk banking

“…Milk bags are more prone to spillage or tearing particularly if overfilled. For in‐hospital collection of milk, storage in plastic specimen containers (orange lids) is not recommended as the orange dye in the lid may leach into milk and may be unsafe (Blouin et al, 2014 ). All plastic containers should be bisphenol‐A (BPA) free, a chemical used in the manufacturing of plastic that is associated with a negative impact on human health.…”