Craigslist is the go-to place for a variety of purchases, from furniture to electronics to real estate.  Almost anything can be sold on the website, even breast milk.  According to the Wall Street Journal, these internet breast milk sellers are not uncommon.  Purchasing breast milk from these sources is tempting, with prices at a few dollars per ounce.  However, a recent examination of breast milk bought on the internet underscores existing warnings that these sources may not be safe for consumption.

Researchers bought and tested 101 breast milk samples sold by women on one popular site, unnamed by the Wall Street Journal.  The study found that three-fourths of the samples contained high amounts of bacteria, some including salmonella, which could potentially sicken babies.  According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), salmonella is a bacterium that can cause salmonellosis, which can result in an infection with symptoms including diarrhea, fever, and abdominal cramps.  The illness usually lasts 4 to 7 days, and most persons recover without treatment. However, in some persons, the diarrhea may be so severe that the patient needs to be hospitalized.

The study was published online in the journal Pediatrics.  The researchers concluded that human milk purchased on the internet exhibited high overall bacterial growth and frequent contamination with pathogenic bacteria, reflecting poor collection, storage, or shipping practices.  It would not be recommended to allow infants to consume this milk, especially if they have a compromised immune system.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has already issued a warning in 2010 against the use of donor breast milk from unofficial sources.  Specifically, the FDA cautions, “When human milk is obtained directly from individuals or through the Internet, the donor is unlikely to have been adequately screened for infectious disease or contamination risk.  In addition, it is not likely that the human milk has been collected, processed, tested or stored in a way that reduces possible safety risks to the baby.”

Breast milk is not the first unusual and questionable item to be sold on craigslist, nor is it likely to be the last.  An earlier article in the National Monitor discusses the wide availability of positive pregnancy tests for purchase on the popular internet marketplace.  For $25 a woman can buy a positive test with no questions asked about her intent and the seller renouncing any liability in the eventual impact of that positive test.