These nutrient comparison tables were derived from standard food nutrient tables and do not take into account the wide variation in nutrient levels that can occur in both human and animal milk, depending on diet and environment.

* Vitamin A levels in human milk will depend on the diet of the mother. Nursing mothers eating vitamin A-rich foods such as cod liver oil will have much higher levels of vitamin A in their milk. Commercial formulas contain about 2400 IU vitamin A per 800 calories.

** Calcium and sodium values for homemade broth are not available.

*** Vitamin E values are derived from commercial vegetable oils. The vitamin E levels for homemade formulas will be higher if good-quality, expeller-expressed oils are used.

* * * * * * *

Is Raw Milk Safe?

Q.   I'm not comfortable using the raw milk in the formula because the woman at the farm I spoke to did not recommend giving their raw milk to infants; she said that not every single container could be tested, so there was no guarantee that every container was bacteria-free.

What could be some acceptable substitutes? I would think that if I cultured the raw milk with kefir powder or kefir grains, then the beneficial bacteria would kill any bad bacteria that might be in the milk. Another alternative that I thought of was to pasteurize the milk from the farm myself and then culture it.

My only concern is that, what if I don't pasteurize properly, will the beneficial bacteria from the kefir powder take care of any mistakes I made? (I already experimented with this and it was difficult, even with constant stirring, to keep the top layer of milk at the right temperature.)

A third alternative that I thought of is to use some good-quality yogurt from the health food store. What do you think of these ideas? Can you help alleviate any of my fears about bad bacteria? I don't want to take any unnecessary chances with my child.

A.   Farmers need to be careful when speaking to the public, but you can be assured that if basic sanitation measures are followed, raw milk is completely safe, in fact, safer than pasteurized milk. Raw milk contains many bioactive components that get rid of bad bacteria. When bad bacteria such as E. coli are added to raw milk, these components get rid of them.

Of course, this marvelous system for getting rid of pathogens can be overwhelmed if the cows are very unhealthy and the milk gets dirty. Basic sanitation measures include testing of the cows to make sure they are disease free, washing the teats with iodine solution before milking, using a milking machine, and storing the milk in a stainless steel bulk tank, glass bottles or hard plastic bottles at a cool temperature.

Most important, the cows should be on pasture as much as possible, and in the winter, in a well ventilated barn and fed mostly hay. We do not recommend using any kind of milk, even raw milk, from cows kept in confinement, especially when the diet is based on grain and includes such additives as citrus peel cake and bakery waste.

We recommend using cultured pasteurized milk only when raw milk is unavailable and in this case, the meat-based formula is probably preferable, given the way milk is processed today. We do not recommend pasteurizing your own milk, it is too risky.