Breast milk expressing or pumping should be kept frozen for 6 to 12 months or refrigerated for up to four days, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. If you’re leaving your body for more than four hours and need to express or pump breast milk, both solid and liquid forms of breast milk can be used. This is beneficial for both babies and parents.

Just like formula, certain companies provide the service of freeze-drying your breast milk into a powder. Additionally, there is also a third, less familiar alternative available.

By reducing the pressure, a pump extracts air from the chamber. The temperature at which the milk freezes in a specialized chamber is minus 40 degrees Fahrenheit, much colder than your kitchen freezer. The process known as sublimation achieves the removal of water from the milk.

Prior to serving, the accurate ratio of water may be included to revive the remaining powder. Evaporating the frozen crystals results in a gradual increase in temperature thereafter.

Should you consider freeze-drying your breast milk? Here are the most prevalent concerns regarding the procedure and determining its suitability for you.

Why do people freeze-dry their milk?

According to two companies that provide freeze-drying services, freeze-drying can render milk shelf-stable and employable for a duration of up to three years. Once freeze-dried, it can be stored in either the refrigerator or freezer without the need for preservation.

This also decreases the weight by removing water from the milk. If you’re exclusively pumping, you’ll understand the appeal of lugging around packs of ice and bottles everywhere you go. This also allows you to ship freeze-dried milk at lower costs for long distances, without worrying about spoiling or accidentally thawing it.

Military parents who may notice a shortage of time to move and pick everything, including a stuffed freezer, can also make use of the service. Luck Berkley, co-founder of Milkify, a Houston-based business that specializes in freeze-drying breast milk, said that some common reasons parents decide to freeze-dry breast milk are simply wanting back freezer space or worries about losing a stash, expiring milk concerns, or frequent travel for work.

As per Luck and Janna Hattingh, the proprietor of Booby Food, a business in the Alberta province of Canada that also freeze-dries breast milk, certain parents claim that a child who does not enjoy the flavor of a guardian’s frozen and thawed milk will be more inclined to consume freeze-dried milk.

Is it safe?

The FDA does not directly regulate them. Each client only receives their own breast milk, meaning that they fall under the “autologous” category and there is limited research into the practice of freeze-drying breast milk. There are companies that use the process for breast milk, but freeze-drying foods is not a new concept.

According to Dr. Jen Trachtenberg, a pediatrician, there are currently no specific safety regulations in place, and the American Academy of Pediatrics or Centers for Disease Control does not yet recommend the process of freeze-drying.

She stated, “it is important to properly reconstitute it to ensure adequate nutrition for the baby.” This also applies to infant formula.

According to the Health Services of Alberta, Canada, they do not recommend the use of freeze-dried or dried breast milk due to the lack of available evidence on its safety.

According to the provincial health authority’s statement, it was mentioned that the facility in Alberta allowed inspectors from Health Canada to physically visit and conduct health inspections. The facility also provided permission to handle food for an unnamed business that freeze-dries breast milk for clients, as informed by HuffPost.

HuffPost, which is also based in Texas, launched a company called Booby-Licious in June. They follow guidelines from the North American Association of Human Milk Banking, as well as the CDC’s guidelines for safe handling of breast milk, and voluntarily adhere to the Current Good Manufacturing Practice regulations from the Food and Drug Administration, as Luck from Milkify told HuffPost.

However, since the services are not regulated by the FDA, parents should take into account possible risks.

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Does the milk retain its beneficial properties?

According to a 2014 study, the freeze-drying process preserves the majority of nutrients, vitamins, and proteins, albeit with a slight reduction in vitamin C content. Although not widely practiced, there has been some research dedicated to freeze-drying human milk.

“Freeze-drying preserves proteins, fats, carbohydrates, including human milk oligosaccharides. Luck mentioned that the freeze-drying process does not change the overall caloric density of breast milk.”

It is noteworthy that the nutritional content of human milk is impacted by the decrease in caloric and protein content over time, as well as by freezing.

According to a study conducted in 2016, freezing milk at specific temperatures can preserve approximately 75% to 80% of specific antibodies. Additionally, freeze-drying seems to be effective in retaining a significant number of advantageous antibodies found in the milk.

Meanwhile, a 2015 study demonstrated that the freeze-drying process was not affected by the bactericidal activity of human milk, which implies that it continued to prevent the growth of harmful bacteria.

Researchers don’t know whether every component of human milk is preserved by freezing (or freeze-drying) since there’s some evidence that freeze-drying, which is at least as good as freezing, may last much longer and differ from person to person. Even though we know all of that, we don’t know what they are.

Is it possible for individuals to freeze-dry their

Several sources advise against attempting to freeze-dry milk by yourself.

“I would not recommend something like storing or freeze-drying at home themselves, as there may be potential contaminants.” Said Trachtenberg, the pediatrician.

People should exercise diligence when researching and selecting the best company to address their safety concerns, particularly when considering a company dedicated to freeze-drying their milk.

Luck mentioned, “You need someone with specialized skills and specialized equipment to be able to safely package and safely complete the task, so that your peace of mind can be preserved.”

How does it work?

Karrie Locher, a postpartum nurse and mother of four in St. Louis, utilized Booby Food to freeze-dry a portion of her milk.

She decided to go to Milkify because it was closer to her home, but Locher from HuffPost told her, “I was incredibly worried about the international shipping availability.”

Locher said that by utilizing the nearby drop-off services provided by freeze-drying companies, individuals residing in close proximity can bypass this particular stage. She expressed that transporting the milk, which she had diligently gathered, was the most anxiety-inducing aspect of the entire procedure.

Locher stated, “I sent my breast milk as a ‘breast milk shipper,’ inside which consisted of a prepaid shipping label and an insulated cooler box. I packed it up frozen and followed the FedEx instructions.”

Locher added that she arrived when my milk was completely frozen, and she only takes it when the temperatures are cooler. She assured me that it would be fine, and the owner Hattingh tracked it for me.

Locher said that she had freeze-dried milk later, which saved her the most. It has been a long time since she last did it, so her son drank it without any problem. In the evening, she sprinkled some of it into his dinner, and even ate some herself.

HuffPost found a distinction among the three North American companies, Milkify and Booby-Licious, in that both companies state that they handle milk one bag at a time. Each bag transforms into a bag of freeze-dried powder with its unique water ratio for serving.

Meanwhile, Food Booby divides the freeze-dried powder evenly into bags that have the same water ratio as a person’s milk, while also pooling all of the water.

Hattingh stated, “they require the exact quantity, in order to discover various bags by using a filter, which they do not possess, and breast milk has a distinct water ratio.”

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How much do freeze-drying services cost?

The construction facility now has a larger new capacity, but it should quickly allow orders to process under it. Right now, the company can only place preorders for clients, and the charges to process 100-120 ounces of milk have been reduced from $1.79 to $1.49 per ounce, resulting in a total charge of $179 for Milkify.

Booby Food’s offerings are priced at 249.99 Canadian dollars ($190) for quantities of milk up to 100 ounces, equivalent to approximately CA$2.50 per ounce. Additionally, they provide the option of payment plans.

Booby-Licious prices their milk at $210 for 100-120 ounces, or $1.75

Each of the three companies provides varying price options for larger quantities of milk.

In comparison, a 21-ounce canister of Earth’s Best Organic infant formula on Amazon costs $27.82, which is equivalent to $1.32 per ounce. On the other hand, a 28.3-ounce canister of Enfamil formula costs $41.99, or $1.48 per ounce.

What other options do I have for extra breast milk?

If you possess a fully stocked freezer of carefully amassed valuable liquid, which you are reluctant to discard, there are alternative choices accessible. It might not be advantageous to freeze-dry milk that you will never require, even if it remains suitable for consumption for a few years.

Contact the Human Milk Banking Association of North America website to inquire about screening and donation and discover the nearest milk bank that will handle it for premature infants at hospitals. You have the option to contribute to a milk bank.

Be aware that there is some risk involved in donating milk informally to the recipient. If anyone is looking for human milk, whether it be for babies or for checking purposes, it is advisable to ask in your local parenting groups on social media. If you have milk that has been in your freezer for too long and can’t take it to a milk bank, you can still donate it informally to another parent, as long as they are aware that the milk won’t be usable after three months.