Reply!
their reply:
Thank you for your feedback regarding your concerns about Stonyfield Farm's association with pediatrician, Dr. Alan Greene. We appreciate hearing all views on the subject and thank you for taking the time to write to us.
To address your concerns, we contacted Dr. Greene with some of your concerns and received the following reply from his office:
1) Dr. Greene is a HUGE breastfeeding advocate. In fact DrGreene.com has been accused of not having enough information on our site for moms who cannot breast feed. Dr. Greene goes to great lengths to encourage moms to stick with breastfeeding if at all possible. Unlike most pediatricians, he supports tandem nursing (continuing to breastfeed one child while pregnant with the next). He urges women to nurse until at least the baby's first birthday, and encourages nursing to age 2 and beyond. He does not, though, believe that women who have stopped nursing should be made to feel guilty. And he strongly believes that any baby who receives formula, for whatever reason, deserves the highest quality formula possible. Modeled after breast milk.
2) We do work with Mead Johnson. Dr. Greene consults for them (teaching them about nutrition-he would love for them to make organic formula) and is sponsored by them to speak about a half dozen times a year. These are talks he would still want to give, even if he was independently wealthy and never had to work (though he would love not to have Mead Johnson sponsor them). When he does speak, he gives a strong, passionate breastfeeding message (as above) and challenges formula companies to push forward with modeling formulas more after breast milk so that babies who do get formula get the best possible.
3) In 1996 Dr. Greene began his campaign to bring the best possible formula to babies who could not nurse. His research lead him to the conclusion that there are several nutrients in breast milk that needed to be added formula -- these include DHA, ARA (both improve brain function and eye sight), Lysozyme (which has a strong influence on the type of bacteria that inhabit the intestinal tract), and Lactoferrin (which has a direct antibiotic effect on bacteria such as staphylococci and E. coli). Most doctors do not get nutrition training in medical school or residency, so this information is not common knowledge to doctors. Dr. Greene immediately began calling for formula manufacturers to add these -- again, for babies who can not nurse (see
http://www.drgreene.com/21_552.html written June 21, 1996).
The World Health Organization strongly advocates breastfeeding. Nonetheless, the World Health Organization, like Dr. Greene, has called for DHA and ARA to be added to infant formula at the levels found in breast milk, for the benefit of those babies who can not breastfeed.
In 2000, Mead Johnson became the first US company to add DHA and ARA to their formula. Mead Johnson uses the amounts recommended by the World Health Organization and the same levels that are found in moms' breast milk. Dr. Greene has been working with Mead Johnson to help educate doctors and parents about the need for these ingredients in formula. He has spoken to groups of physician and nurses and has been interviewed on radio and television about the subject.
None of the content on DrGreene.com was commissioned or sponsored by Mead Johnson. In fact, they invited him to be their spokesperson BECAUSE of what he had already written.
We are pleased to be able to work with Mead Johnson. They have shown incredible responsibility, especially in the area of breastfeeding support. Dr. Greene has always been and continues to be a breastfeeding advocate. But when it is not possible to breastfeed, he believes babies should have the best possible infant formula to meet their nutritional demands.
When these children are old enough to eat dairy products, they should be eating the best possible yogurt. Many parents believe all yogurt is the same -- it's all good for their kids. Dr. Greene wants to help educate parents so they will understand that organic yogurt, made with live active culture is the best for their kids. That is why we have joined forces with Stonyfield Farm.
4) Dr. Greene does favor the idea of vaccines (prevention through teaching the child's body to recognize dangerous germs so that they can be fended off without medicines), but also supports parents deciding what they believe is best for their own children. Again, he favors making these the best possible for the babies who get them (i.e. removing all thimerosol from vaccines).
We are passionately committed to producing the best tasting, healthiest yogurts available, and trying to do some good in the world while we're at it. Visit our web site at
www.stonyfield.com to learn more.
Sincerely,
Diana Godbout
Consumer Relations Coordinator
FOR THE FOLKS AT STONYFIELD FARM!
:
: . I rarely buy this yogurt anyway since it's expensive (not to mention surgary) and my kids will eat plain yogurt with a little bit of honey in it. I had no idea who this Dr. was, but I followed the link, and he had a long article, basically refuting what the scientists who said that breastmilk hardly had any value, said. He listed and explained a huge list of the benefits to bfing. Also, I read his response to the question on DHA in formula, and I thought it was still pretty pro bf. Dr. Sears is another Dr. who campaigned for DHA in formula. I think this is a *good* thing for mothers who cannot bf. We know that this is a small number of women, but it does exist. I still don't see what the problem with him is.
