Bacterial growth in refrigerated human milk
R. Sosa and L. Barness
Unprocessed breast milk is currently being used as a desirable feeding
alternative for premature infants. To assess some of the potential risks of
this practice, we studied the bacterial growth in 41 samples of unprocessed
human milk for a period of five days. No bacteria were cultured in eight
samples of milk; the bacteria that were cultured in the remaining 33
samples were similar to those found on the skin and nipple of the breast.
With the exception of three samples, two with Klebsiella and one with
Pseudomonas, all identified bacteria have been reported as normal skin
flora. The initial concentration of bacteria found in milk was low, with a
mean of 10,000 colonies (range, 1000 to 140,000 colonies). Bacterial colony
counts progressively decreased throughout the five-day refrigeration
period.
