The flavours of food eaten by nursing mothers can be found in breast milk, according to a new study.
The study asked 18 lactating mothers to provide a sample of breast milk before they ate capsules containing caraway seed, menthol, banana and liquorice flavours and after.
While the different flavours took different times to appear in the breast milk, all the flavours did appear. The four flavours had all disappeared from the women’s breast milk eight hours after they ate the capsules.
Scientists from the University of Copenhagen in Denmark said this result shows that breastfeeding is nature’s way of introducing a baby to new flavours before they start eating solid foods.
The Denmark study found that while concentrations of the caraway and liquorice flavours peaked two hours after the mother ate them, the banana flavour could only be detected in the milk during the first hour after consumption. Menthol was present for between two and eight hours after consumption.
The study added that mothers of bottle-fed infants should not despair. Babies who aren’t breastfed should have different brands of formula from time to time, as each brand has a unique taste.
The study was published in the New Scientist magazine.
