Research and Development

Macronutrient Analysis of a Nationwide Sample of Donor Breast Milk
As part of routine QA activity, incoming donor milk was tested for macronutrient content. Upon arrival, each donor’s milk was pooled into 10-liter aliquots, unique to that donor, and a sample of each aliquot was taken for testing. A total of 415 sequential samples from 273 donors were tested. A large variation in caloric and fat content was noted and a substantial proportion of donations tested had a caloric density of less than or equal to 17 calories/oz. The mean caloric density and the mean protein content were also found to be lower than generally assumed.