The normal and natural feeding of babies is breast milk. When a baby cannot be breastfed, or when his mother chooses not to do so, then he is given a "infant formula"and after six months, when the change is usually made, a" continuation preparation ". Quotationed I have put the way in which Royal Decree 867/2008 refers to baby formulas, better known as starter artificial milk and artificial milk continuation.
They refer to it that way because they consider it correct, but At no time do they talk about infant formula, which is how news has been published today in many news media in which they talk about artificial milk or infant formula. Milk formula? Notice how strange the term sounds, that I have come to the news because a reader of the blog has written to me (thanks, L.) wondering if the milk they referred to was the artificial milk of a lifetime or if it was something else different.
Why it cannot be called infant formula
You will say that I am a little tiquismiquis, and perhaps it is, but the International Code of Breast Milk Substitutes clearly states that It is a wrong term that should not be used to refer to artificial milk. In fact, even milk manufacturers know that it is prohibited:
The labeling must be designed in such a way as to provide the necessary information on the proper use of the products and will not disadvantage the use of breastfeeding, being prohibited the use of the terms "humanized", "maternalized" or similar.
In Spain, the law refers to the code through the Royal Decree that I have mentioned above. In it we can read the following:
The labeling must be designed in a way that provides the necessary information on the proper use of the products and will not deter breastfeeding, being prohibited the use of the terms "humanized", "maternity", "adapted" or similar.
More or less they say the same thing, but they add the term "adapted", so that it is not used either.
Sure there is no bad intention
Now, both the code and the law refer to the labeling of infant formulas, so seeing the term in the press is not exactly the same. Yes, they should modify it and stop using it for the same reason that milk manufacturers cannot use the word "maternized". Basically, because it's about preparations whose origin is cow's milk, which are modified so that babies can take them, but that is still cow's milk and has little to do with what the mother could give.
Come on, it is very different to say "infant formula" or "artificial milk" than to say "infant formula", as manufacturers would like to be able to call their products, since in the eyes of the population, they would be much closer to each other . Something like saying "we have managed to make breast milk in our laboratory".
The issue is that in the press, and especially on the Internet, many times a copy paste, and it is enough that the initial editor puts infant formula so that the rest of the media put on exactly the same, without caring too much if it is good, bad or worse.
What's the news about
To all this, since I talk about it, say that in the news they explain that there is a project, the Courtesy Program, thanks to which 250 mothers with HIV have been able to have children and feed their babies with artificial milk (no risk of contagion). That is, being mothers with HIV, they are given the formula from day one so that they can bottle feed their children at no cost. It is a project that has been active since 2011 and to which 50 hospitals from 13 autonomous communities have already joined.
It is a benefit for these women who can feed their children quietly, knowing that the risk of infection does not exist. But the milk they receive to give the baby is artificial milk. The same that is bought in pharmacies and supermarkets, and not a special called "infant formula."
