Breast milk companies are popping up around the globe - why haven't governments stepped in?

[janterry]

Companies producing a range of breast milk products are popping up around the globe, including in India, Cambodia, the US and England. These products include formula replacements – designed to be the sole source of nutrition – and other dietary supplements that complement or are added to formula.

and

While donation regimes were designed to avoid the commercialisation of women’s bodies, there are real concerns we are now engaging in the commodification of a woman-produced substance. But also, to meet healthcare-provider contracts, donations to companies are not stable enough. Companies can’t rely on the same public and community sentiments that drive NHS and other public system donations.

and

While marketing their products and donation programmes may increase milk donations to companies, employing women to pump on contracts is probably needed in the longer term to create a more stable supply. The result, though, could be women pumping for profit.

This has happened around the world, leading to issues like women pumping more than they would to meet company demands, or diverting nutrition from their own children. Indeed, such concerns about payment and employment practices led to community activism in the US and led Cambodia to a total ban on sales to the US.
much more at link:
https://theconversation.com/breast-milk-companies-are-popping-up-around-the-globe-why-havent-governments-stepped-in-169995

[FBaggins]

1. How is this different from blood plasma sales?

Or is it an argument that this too should be restricted?

Does raise some interesting questions though. If a company has a room where lactating employees can go to pump during the work day… how might it be different if they are selling the milk for profit?

[janterry]

2. She is calling for regulation

Otherwise, we will be paying women in developing countries to be milked - for commerce - probably at their and their children's detriment. Keep in mind that as an industry - this will come from poor countries to relatively wealthy ones. Or, from poor women to relatively wealthy ones.

We regulate tissue and organ donations. Grappling with the commodification of women's bodies is important. It doesn't mean there won't be any women who sell milk. But we do need to think through these issues.

[FBaggins]

3. I get all of that... but I'm not sure that it answers the question

How is that different from the sale of blood plasma? Or do the same arguments apply?

[janterry]

5. I think that in many countries, blood plasma is regulated?

I don't have the answers for that - but off the top of my head (and as someone who breastfed for more than a couple of years) - I would think that there is a limit to collecting plasma. Breastmilk, otoh, had I kept up my diet, and continued to use it - it could have gone on all day, every day, for decades.......

Do we really want a class of women, milked for profit? Like that? (I'm thinking of the worst case scenario - and I see no reason why it wouldn't look like that........). The images I am conjuring are pretty horrific .

I don't know anything about blood plasma so it's hard for me to respond. I do know that you can't just give all day as a job. That's not true of breastmilk.

This article says we export plasma (I didn't know that). https://www.supermoney.com/economy-blood-donations/

It also says that plasma donation comes with risks (long term donation, in particular).

But again, I don't know much about that - perhaps others would have to weigh in on risks. It looks like the travel of plasma is from a developed country to an undeveloped one (or laterally to another developed country)? But perhaps this is a dated article.

[Buckeye_Democrat]

4. I JOKED about this business idea many years ago...

... to a coworker.

Never thought it would happen in reality!

Good grief, I can just imagine an illness being passed along this way. No way that I'd trust a business promising that "all of our lactaters are certified, disease and drug-free".

It's not like breast milk or alternatives like formula are hard to acquire!

Edit: By the way, that topic came up with the coworker because he said that he'd accidentally drank some breast milk left in the refrigerator by his female roommate. (He was living with a married couple who recently had a baby.)