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Cover-up claim in baby milk chemicals row

Infertility threat: Mothers alarmed by test results

Glenda Cooper
Sunday 26 May 1996 23:02 BST
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The Government was challenged last night to publish within 24 hours the names of baby-milk products containing chemicals which could reduce fertility, or take them off the shelves.

Worried mothers besieged baby-milk companies with calls following the revelation in the Independent on Sunday that nine leading brands contained levels of phthalates close to those found to damage the testicles and reduce sperm count in baby rats.

As the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food refused to name the brands Nigel Griffiths, Labour's consumer affairs spokesman, spoke of a "culture of cover-up" and said that parents had a right to know. The Consumers' Association and the British Medical Association also criticised the Government.

Phthalates, which are widely used to soften plastic, are among a group of "gender benders" thought to mimic female hormones and cause freak occurrences such as the feminisation of male fish and other wildlife.

Scientists estimated that new-born babies fed on milk would receive on average 0.13mg of phthalates for every kilogram of body weight. This is just above the lowest level at which one of the phthalates in milk was found to damage the testicles of baby rats in studies carried out by the Medical Research Council.

But the Government played down the scare, which manufacturers said had been fuelled by "misleading reports".

The MAFF confirmed yesterday that it had held unpublicised talks with manufacturers to discuss the situation and try to trace the source of the chemicals.

A spokesman for the ministry said: "The tests showed that the levels of phthalates were slightly above the Tolerable Daily Intakes of the chemicals, but there is no cause for concern." He stressed that the TDIs had a wide margin and said that mothers should continue to use formula milk.

"We recognise that it is essential to identify the sources of phthalates. We and the manufacturers are determined to reduce the levels in the milk but they pose no threat."

But Mr Griffiths said: "The public has a right to know which products are involved. The names should be published immediately. Parents are entitled to choose to avoid feeding these products to their babies."

Dr John Chisholm, deputy chairman of the BMA's GPs committee, said he would be pressing for the Department of Health to issue immediate information to doctors.

"The trouble is that doctors, nurses, midwives and health visitors have been given no better information than members of the public. It is extremely unfortunate that we learn about it like this." he said. "This is another example of MAFF handling things in a way which really does place the public and health professionals in difficulty."

A spokeswoman for the Consumers' Association said: "If this is true it is an absolute outrage ... This is yet more evidence of the urgent need for the establishing of an independent food agency."

But the manufacturers insisted their products were fine for mothers to feed their children. A spokeswoman for Milupa said: "Like all other companies we are trying to identify where the phthalates come from and are working to reduce them. They are still safe levels."

A spokesman for the Medical Research Council said: "This is obviously something to be concerned about, but the research is incomplete. Essentially our work was in animals, and there is as yet no evidence that the same thing applies to humans."

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