Mother's own milk (MOM) is the first choice for the nutritional and biological requirements of all neonates, including tiny preterm and critically ill infants. When MOM is not available or is insufficient, donor human milk from a well-recognized human milk ban1 (HMB) is the best alternative. Although some bioactive milk components are lost to varying degrees with the heat treatment methods widely used in HMBs, many other important bioactive compounds are completely or partially preserved, which are not found in preterm formula. The greatest advantage of donor human milk for preterm infants is protection against necrotizing enterocolitis when compared to formula. This is the reason why HMBs are becoming increasingly common around the world.
To ensure safe operation of a HMB, a well-designed safety assurance plan should be put in place. Infectious and toxicological risks are the primary potential concerns that operators of HMBs must eliminate, and these concerns are of the same types as those related to both transfusions of blood products and food consumption. HMBs implement procedures that allow for the management and sanitization of donor milk without significantly altering the nutritional and biologically protective components of human milk, obtaining a product characterized by a balance between safety and biological quality.