A Special Q&A with Milkify’s Chief Quality Officer, Dr. Lauren Figard, Ph.D.
With several infant formula companies making headlines in recent years due to contamination concerns, you may have started questioning the safety of just about any food that touches your baby’s mouth – even your own breast milk when stored!
Could the same bacteria implicated in recent formula recalls – Cronobacter sakazakii in 2022 and 2023 formula recalls and Clostridium botulism in a large 2025 formula recall – be a potential contamination concern in freeze-dried breast milk as well?
The website for International Baby Food Action Network (IBFAN) says correct “preparation, handling and storage” are key to formula companies avoiding bacterial contamination in powdered and reconstituted infant formula.
To find out if those three factors are equally important to the safe processing and handling of breast milk into a powdered form, I recently sat down to chat with Dr. Lauren Figard, Ph.D., Chief Quality Officer for the breast milk freeze-drying service, Milkify. Dr. Figard is a cell and molecular biologist by training who joined the team at Milkify in 2022.
Thank you, Dr. Figard, for joining me today. Tell me: How did your interest in biology lead to your current role at Milkify?
I received my Ph.D. in molecular biology from Baylor College of Medicine, and afterwards I took a three-year break from paid work to stay home with my children. In my role as a mother, I developed an interest in breast milk and breastfeeding. When I was ready to re-enter the work force, I was excited to learn about Milkify, as my job here has allowed me to merge my background in science with my passion for feeding babies!
What does your typical day as Chief Quality Officer for Milkify look like?
A major part of my job entails ensuring Milkify’s breast milk freeze-drying process and our facility comply with the current good manufacturing practices, or cGMPs. This means that our facility must be clean and well-maintained, and the equipment and instruments we use must be properly calibrated and in good working order. In addition, all of the personnel handling the milk must be well-qualified to perform their jobs and properly trained in food safety practices. And importantly, we ensure that every customer order we process passes the appropriate quality control checks.
Would you agree that safe preparation, handling and storage of breast milk is key to preventing bacteria introduction before it is processed into freeze-dried form at Milkify?
Absolutely! Because freeze-drying does not eliminate all bacteria, ensuring that breast milk intended for feeding or freeze-drying is expressed in a way that prevents contamination is very important. Breast milk is never sterile, and some amount of bacteria comes from the mother herself. However, additional, potentially unsafe, bacteria such as Cronobacter sakazakii, which has been implicated in formula recalls, can be introduced through less-than-ideal pumping practices, such as unclean hands or using improperly cleaned pump parts or bottles. Bacterial contaminants can then grow under improper storage conditions, such as excessive time at room temperature or prolonged refrigeration.
To ensure that your breast milk is as safe as possible, I recommend washing hands thoroughly before pumping, washing your pump parts between uses, sterilizing your pump parts, and storing them in a clean and dry location before use. In addition, whenever possible, it is ideal to freeze milk immediately to halt bacterial growth; though refrigeration for up to four days is also generally acceptable for at-home use.
I have heard that Cronobacter sakazakii, a type of bacteria at the center of one recent formula recall, can live in dry foods or on surfaces. How does Milkify prevent Cronobacter contamination from happening during the processing of clients’ breast milk into powdered form?
Keeping the milk safe is our highest priority at Milkify, and our process is specifically designed with the goal of preventing bacterial growth or contamination from the environment.
We limit growth of bacteria by keeping the milk temperature-controlled. We always perform a temperature check upon your milk’s arrival at our facility, and the milk is stored in temperature-monitored freezers while awaiting processing.
In addition, it is critical that we avoid introducing any additional bacterial contamination from the environment during processing of your milk. This is where Milkify’s SafeDry contact-free process provides a big advantage. Developed by Milkify founder and microbiologist Dr. Berkley Luck, this patented process is specifically designed to prevent contamination of milk during freeze drying by keeping each customer’s milk enclosed within single-use packaging – clearly labeled with the customer’s name and a unique bag ID number – at all times during processing, even while in the freeze-dryer. SafeDry technology prevents the milk from coming into physical contact with equipment or instruments that could introduce bacterial contamination.
Also, our process involves transferring freeze-dried breast milk powder into its final packaging by pouring, rather than using a powder dispenser that could introduce bacterial contamination. Finally, our personnel are trained in food safety practices and undergo routine training updates to ensure that all of Milkify’s safety procedures are implemented correctly.
Besides Cronobacter, I would love to hear your thoughts on Clostridium botulinum, another kind of bacteria implicated in a recent formula recall. I was relieved to see on the National Institutes of Health’s LactMed website: “It is unlikely that botulinum toxin enters breast milk because of its high molecular weight.” But is contamination of a client’s breast milk with Clostridium botulinum a possibility due to the handling, processing and temperature phases of breast milk at freeze-dried breast milk services like Milkify?
Clostridium botulinum is not typically associated with breast milk, though as a bacterial species found in soil or dust, it is theoretically possible it could be introduced into expressed milk or breast milk powder through poor hygiene practices.
This underscores the need to choose a breast milk freeze-drying service that maintains a high standard of cleanliness. The Milkify facility routinely undergoes a rigorous review of staff personal hygiene practices, cleanliness, sanitation, recordkeeping, facility design and safety controls to maintain our status as a GMP (Good Manufacturing Processes)-certified facility by SGS, the world's leading testing, inspection and certification company.
At home, expressed breast milk or freeze-dried breast milk powder should be carefully prepared to prevent contamination. Freeze-dried breast milk powder should be stored in its original packaging in a cool, dry location. If the milk was freeze-dried into a multi-use packaging format, such as the Milkify Saver, use only a clean, dry scoop to remove powder from the bag and keep the zipper closed while not in use.
Finally, it is important to prepare the powder according to packaging instructions and be mindful of using rehydrated powder within the recommended timeframe.
We aim to make parents' lives easier with the Milkify service, and ensuring peace of mind when it comes to the safety of each customer’s milk is a major part of that. Attention to quality and safety is at the core of everything we do at Milkify.
For more information on Milkify’s internal safety protocols for freeze-drying breast milk, visit https://milkify.me/pages/safety.
