Martek Biosciences, Infant Formula and the Toxic Solvent Hexane - a NaturalNews Investigation

[Guest guest]

http://www.naturalnews.com/026315.html

 

In 2003, an explosion occurred downstream from the Martek Biosciences

manufacturing facility where hexane is used to extract DHA used in infant

formula products. Hexane is a highly explosive chemical, and a Kentucky State

Fire Marshal concluded it was the release of hexane from the Martek

manufacturing facility that caused the explosion.

As contained in SEC documents on the public record

(http://www.secinfo.com/dsvRq.2178.d.htm):

COLUMBIA, MD, April 8, 2003 – Martek Biosciences Corporation (Nasdaq: MATK),

today announced that it has received a report from the Office of the Kentucky

State Fire Marshal that concluded that the explosion that occurred in March,

2003 at a wastewater pretreatment facility in Winchester, KY resulted from the

introduction of n-hexane, a class I flammable liquid, into the local sanitary

sewer system. The Fire Marshal's report did not rule out other possible

contributors to the explosion.

Martek utilizes n-hexane in its production process at the Company's plant in

Winchester, KY, and the Fire Marshal has concluded that inadvertent discharges

of hexane from Martek's plant had resulted in elevated levels of n-hexane in the

sewer system. Martek has taken measures to insure that no further n-hexane is

emitted into the sewer system. Production at the facility has not been

negatively affected by these events.

In other words, Martek released volumes of hexane that were sufficient to cause

an explosion. This brings up the question: What is this company doing with all

those explosive chemicals in the first place?

The answer, by the way, is even more incendiary than the chemical itself:

They're making oils for infant formula!

Permission to pollute

Martek is also on the record applying for permission to pollute hexane from the

Commonwealth of Kentucky Division of Air Quality. As shown on this Google search

of a PDF document (http://209.85.173.104/search?q=cach...), Martek agreed to

limit hexane emissions to less than 10 tons per year in order to avoid the

classification of a " major source " for Hazardous Air Pollutants (HAPs).

The document also explains how Martek processes DHA using hexane: (bold added)

The Martek Biosciences facility in Winchester produces two single cell oils,

each of which is enriched in a specific fatty acid. One is a triglyceride oil

enriched in DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) derived from a marine microalgae

(DHASCO®) and the second is a triglyceride oil enriched in ARA (arachidonic

acid) derived from a common soil organism (ARASCO®). The process begins when a

biomass is produced through cultivation of a starter seed culture, particular to

the oil to be produced, in a series of increasingly larger fermentors. After the

final fermentation, in the case of the marine algae, the biomass is spray dried.

The ARASCO® biomass must be dried through other means at a toll processing

facility. The oil is extracted from the dried biomass using a hexane extraction

process. The oil is winterized, refined, bleached, and deodorized to produce the

final product.

In order to avoid classification as a major source for Hazardous Air Pollutants

(HAP) as defined in 401 KAR 63:060, Section 1, Martek has accepted limits of 9.0

tons per year (tpy) of total source-wide emissions of any individual HAP (on a

rolling twelve month basis) and a source-wide limit of 22.5 tpy of total

combined HAP emissions on a rolling twelve month basis.

Are these oils even good for infants in the first place?

In a report released this week called Behind the Bean

(http://www.cornucopia.org/2009/05/s...), the Cornucopia Institute raises

serious questions about the possible health effects of Martek's oils found in

infant formula products.

As discussed in a January, 2008 press release by the Cornucopia Institute:

" ...Laboratory-produced DHASCO and ARASCO (Martek's names for their proprietary

oils) are materially different from the fats found in a mother's breast milk.

Martek's products are extracted from fermented algae and fungus, with the use of

the neurotoxic solvent hexane. They contain only 40 to 50% DHA and ARA, with the

balance from sunflower oil and other components, including some not found in

human breast milk and never before a part of the human infant diet. "

Here are some additional quotes from food and health experts, as published by

the Cornucopia Institute:

" While infant formula manufacturers claim that these oils are perfectly safe and

necessary for proper development, our report provides a more detailed picture.

We investigated how a toxic chemical is used as processing agents in the

manufacturing process, the inadequate testing for safety, and most importantly,

how some infants are experiencing serious adverse reactions from formula

supplemented with these oils. "

- Charlotte Vallaeys, Farm and Food Policy Analyst, the Cornucopia Institute

" It's true that DHA and ARA are important nutrients for developing

infants--that's why they're found in human breast milk. But we have also seen

that some infants are experiencing side effects like diarrhea from consuming the

manufactured DHA and ARA oils in formula. "

- Jimi Francis, Ph.D., a biochemist specializing in DHA in infant nutrition at

the Allie M. Lee Laboratory for Omega-3 Research at the University of Nevada at

Reno

" This report presents a disturbing look at the novel ingredients in infant

formula. The FDA has received scores of adverse reports on effects of these

ingredients, but, to date, the public's only access to these is through

Cornucopia's Freedom of Information Act request. This report will help alert the

health care community and federal agencies. "

- Marsha , Executive Director of the National Alliance for Breastfeeding

Advocacy.

" When I worked in the hospital's neonatal ward, the nurses all called it 'the

diarrhea formula'. We've seen infants, tiny little humans, with diarrhea that

just wouldn't stop after being given this formula. "

- Sam Doak, LPN, IBCLC, Marietta, Ohio

(http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/s...)

You can read more about this issue in the Cornucopia Institute's special report,

Replacing Mother: Infant Formula Report at

http://cornucopia.org/index.php/rep...

The truth about infant formula - a Health Ranger opion

The sad, disturbing truth about all this is that the infant formula industry

has, for decades, engaged in highly deceptive marketing practices that sought to

replace healthful human breast milk with harmful, factory-made infant formula

products in order to generate profits.

These corporations can't make money off mothers' breast milk, but they sure can

earn big bucks off a canister of processed, chemically-contaminated cow's milk

proteins, high-fructose corn syrup and various chemical additives. Some of the

most outrageous crimes ever committed against the people of developing nations,

in fact, have been committed by the infant formula corporations who actively

sought to teach uneducated women that " breast milk is bad " while insisting that

" modern women feed their babies formula. "

Martek's role in all this is murky: On one hand, the company is providing an oil

that's theoretically good for children's health, but on the other hand, this oil

is from an algal source and it's extracted using an explosive toxic chemical

that undoubtedly causes harm to our environment. (Hence its designation as a

Hazardous Air Pollutant by the EPA.)

Even if there's no detectable contamination of the finished DHA product with

hexane, I still would not want to feed my baby an ingredient whose refining

results in the release of toxic chemicals into the environment. Would you?

I don't trust any of the conventional infant formula companies. Even the

so-called " natural " soy protein infant formulas may be contaminated with hexane

residues -- see our previous report on hexane in soy protein here:

http://www.naturalnews.com/026303.html

If you're looking for truly natural, organic and environmentally-conscious

infant formula products, look for the USDA Organic seal on the products (if

you're in the U.S.) and really check out the companies behind these products. I

know that Genesis Organics (www.GenesisOrganics.com) makes a great goat's milk

formula. The Cornucopia Institute's " Replacing Mother " report also contains a

wealth of additional information on this topic:

http://www.cornucopia.org/2008/01/r...

The bottom line? Do your homework before feeding formula to your baby. There's a

lot of deception in the infant formula business (as 10,000+ families in China

recently discovered with melamine), and it seems that the bigger the company,

the lower the integrity of their products (although there are exceptions to this

rule of thumb).

Whatever you do, don't automatically trust natural-looking labels and health

claims. Some rather nasty infant formula products are, in fact, framed in

precisely the language of " natural " and " organic, " even when their ingredients

are from questionable sources.

And above all, remember this: The best formula in the world is mom's breast

milk! Absolutely nothing beats it. In fact, nothing even comes close. The most

organic, high-integrity, nutrient-dense " formula " product in the world is but a

pale shadow compared to the raw, living mother's milk produced by your own

miraculous body (if you're a mom, that is).

Love, Gabby. :0)

http://stemcellforautism.blogspot.com/

 

" I know of nobody who is purely Autistic or purely neurotypical. Even God had

some Autistic moments, which is why the planets all spin. " ~ Jerry Newport