Xxvi. Vitamin a and Carotenoid Contents of Colostrum and Mature Human Milk

The vitamin A and carotenoid contents of human milk have been of interest for a number of years. Quantitative estimations of the vitamin A in breast milk were carried out as early as 1923 by Kennedy, Palmer and Schlutz. 1 These investigators pointed out the superiority of human milk over cow's milk in vitamin A and also indicated the effect of a very poor diet on mother's milk. Macy and her associates reported, in addition to quantitative estimations of vitamin A, 2 the differences between cow's milk and human milk, 3 the variations in composition of milk among individual women 4 and the effect of vitamin supplementation of the diet. 5 Debre and Busson, 6 using a biologic method, compared human milk and the various forms of cow's milk used in infant feeding in France. Vitamin A is a stimulus for the formation of new cells and as such is