Medolac Laboratories and Mothers Milk Cooperative announce agreement

LAKE OSWEGO, Ore., Oct. 17, 2013 /PRNewswire-iReach/ -- Availability of ethically sourced, high-quality donor milk took a major step forward as Medolac Laboratories and the Mothers Milk Cooperative today announced a groundbreaking partnership agreement. 

Although producer/processor partnerships  are common in the world of cooperative businesses, this is the first time that the cooperative model has been applied to milk banking.  The Cooperative is owned and democratically controlled by the nursing mothers who are its members.  Members are compensated for their breast milk and, as a result, many are able to nurse their own babies longer by delaying their return to the workplace.

Quality assurance and safety testing figure prominently in the agreement, utilizing Medolac's enhanced donor testing and innovative new processing techniques that result in the first sterile, shelf life stable donor milk products.  "Safety is our first concern, especially because donor milk is often provided to critically ill, premature infants.  We feel strongly that the ongoing donor milk shortage is unacceptable, especially because medical studies have shown that preterm babies have a better chance of survival if they're fed exclusively human milk ," Elena Medo, the CEO of Medolac, stated.

The agreement also sets forth a voluntary commitment to support the aim and principles of the World Health Organization Code of Marketing of Breast Milk Substitutes.  Adrianne Weir, the CEO of the MMC states, "Despite the clear superiority of breast milk over artificial feeds, our commitment is that our donor milk should never replace direct breastfeeding.  Consequently , a major part of this partnership is our mutual adoption of a publically available code of responsible conduct that sets out measures to ensure that our donor milk products are never marketed in a way that is inconsistent with the WHO Code or that conflict with national measures to implement the WHO Code.  We are pleased that Medolac will be the first and only human milk nutrition company to meet those criteria."

Medolac Laboratories has stepped forward as a strong advocate for the development of autonomous cooperative human milk banks, after becoming increasingly concerned about the ongoing shortage of high quality donor milk and the basic issue of fairness to donors.  "The co-op provides an avenue to solve the donor milk shortage while empowering the women who provide their breast milk.  Numerous government publications cite the return to work as the primary reason that women stop breastfeeding.  Now, new moms have an option that will allow them to help other babies while leveraging the tremendous value of their milk to benefit their own families," said Medo.

About Medolac:

Medolac Laboratories develops innovative, adapted human milk products for clinical use, applying proprietary biopharmaceutical processing methods that preserve the immune components in human milk. Our vision is to offer accessible, safe, high quality nutritional care for critically ill infants in need. Medolac Laboratories is a Delaware corporation (Neolac Inc. dba Medolac) headquartered at Lake Oswego, Oregon in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. 

Media Contact: Yvonne Arroyo, Medolac Laboratories, 866-599-7740, [email protected]

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SOURCE Medolac Laboratories