Soy Infant Formula Dangerous to Babies, Say Groups

[Randy]

June 8, 1999 – Health Minister Allan Rock was called upon yesterday by the Canadian Health Coalition, the Infant Feeding Action Coalition (INFACT Canada), and the National Federation of Nurses Unions, to impose immediate restrictions on the routine use of soy-based infant formulas. They point to studies by the New Zealand government that show soy formulas could to damage an infant’s thyroid, as well as concerns about genetically engineered soy, which forms the basis of commercial formula.

"Currently 20 percent of infants in Canada are fed soy-based infant formulas and are thereby exposed to levels of phytoestrogens up to 22,000 times higher than those normally found in breast milk," says Elizabeth Sterken, of INFACT Canada. "Statements by Health Canada and the infant food industry that the formulas are safe are false and misleading. The American Academy of Pediatrics states it will take years of research to scientifically establish the safety of phytoestrogens,"

Epidemiological evidence links soy formula consumption to:

disruption of normal sexual development evidenced by changes in onset of puberty onset of early puberty in the U.S. occurred in tandem with increased sales of soy formulas thyroid dysfunction and increased incidence of goitre as phytoestrogens act as endocrine disrupters phytoestrogens are known to induce infertility in animals and possibly in some birds possible links between soy phytoestrogen genistein and infantile leukemia "Rather than protecting the health of the most vulnerable, babies and children, Canada's Health Protection Branch and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency are protecting the infant formula, food, pesticides, and biotech industries. This is a grotesque betrayal. The use of the soy-based formula must be restricted immediately until the industry demonstrates the safety of phytoestrogens," insists Sterken.

All infant formulas sold in Canada are manufactured with genetically mutant soy beans. Safety of genetically manipulated food in human populations is untested. Infants fed soy-based formulas are fed these products as their exclusive food for the first six months of life and as part of the weaning diet for up to two years. Babies have unique nutritional and development needs. Damage to health, immune capacity, physical and neurological development at an early age is irreversible.

Since 1995 leading scientists in New Zealand have been calling for a ban on general sales of soy-based infant formulas. The New Zealand Ministry of Health has publicly acknowledged the potential of soy formulas to damage an infant’s thyroid. These same researchers informed Health Canada and the Minister of Health, Allan Rock, of their research results and concerns. However, no action was taken to protect babies in Canada or warn parents of the risks.

According to Dr. E. Ann Clark, a professor in the department of Plant Agriculture at the University of Guelph, "Canadians have become the unwitting test subjects of a mass, uncontrolled experiment with products whose safety is unknown and untested. A precautionary approach must be taken rather than continuing to produce, approve, and market genetically engineered products until damage is proven. Have we learned nothing from the debacle of the tobacco industry?"

Clark and colleagues at other universities have examined the process by which genetically engineered field crops are approved for release into commerce. She concluded, "These crops have been approved based on faulty assumptions and without any independent scientific research to assess the safety and environmental risk."

"According to its statutory duty, the Health Protection Branch must exercise due diligence and protect infant health from potentially irreversible damage," says Kathleen Connors, President of the National Federation of Nurses Unions. "This means adopting a precautionary approach whereby soy formula manufacturers bear the burden of demonstrating the safety of phytoestrogens and genetically mutant food. Immediate preventative action to restrict the use of the soy-based formulas is critical and legally required."