Reducing breast milk to a dust form solves a couple of issues. First, it generates the milk shelf-stable and usable for approximately three years. You don't need to help keep it in the refrigerator or freezer.
Second, removing the water from the milk decreases its weight. If you're pumping exclusively and need to lug full bottles and ice packs with you everywhere, you'll understand the appeal. And also this enables you to ship freeze-dried milk long distances at a less expensive, without worrying about it accidentally thawing and spoiling.
Frequent travel for work, concerns about milk expiring, worries about losing a stash or simply just wanting freezer space back are a few of the common reasons that parents choose to freeze-dry, Luck said. Military parents, who on short notice may need to get and move everything — including a stuffed freezer — have made utilization of the service.
Some parents say that the baby who doesn't like the taste of a parent's frozen and defrosted milk will more readily take freeze-dried milk, based on Luck and Janna Hattingh, the owner of Booby Food, a business in Canada's Alberta province that also freeze-dries breast milk.
How does it work?
Karrie Locher, a postpartum nurse and mother of four in St. Louis, used Booby Food to freeze-dry a few of her milk.
“I was incredibly focused on the international shipping,” Locher told HuffPost. But she decided to go with Booby Food because Milkify, that was nearer to her home, didn't have any availability.
“I was sent a ‘breast milk shipper,' which consisted of a field, insulated cooler and prepaid shipping label inside. I packed up my frozen milk per the instructions and shipped it through FedEx,” said Locher.
“The dog owner [Hattingh] tracked it with me and assured me it will be just fine. She takes the cooler temps when it gets to her, and most of my milk was still frozen solid when it arrived.”
Locher said she's saving most of her freeze-dried milk for later as it can last so long, but her son drank a container without issue and even ate some that she sprinkled into his dinner one evening.
HuffPost found three North American companies dedicated exclusively to freeze-drying breast milk: Booby Food, Milkify and Booby-Licious, a business that launched in June and can be situated in Texas.
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A difference involving the services is that Milkify and Booby-Licious process milk one bag at any given time, with each being a bag of freeze-dried powder that has its water ratio for serving. This technique reduces opportunities for potential contamination, Luck said.
Booby Food, meanwhile, pools every one of a person's milk and divides the freeze-dried powder evenly into bags which have the same water ratio.
“Their water ratio is unique for their breast milk, and they don't really need certainly to filter through different bags to find the appropriate amount they need,” said Hattingh.