Law Commons^™

Regulating Milk: Women And Cows In France, Mathilde Cohen

Faculty Articles and Papers

Animal milk, most commonly cow’s milk, is one of the most heavily regulated commodities in both France and the United States. With the increasing popularity of breastfeeding and the possibility of pumping, freezing, and storing breast milk, a cottage industry has emerged for people wishing to buy, sell, or donate milk produced by humans. Yet the legal landscape for human milk remains inchoate, prompting public health officials and medical professionals to call for tighter regulation. Animal and human milk are typically viewed as two distinct substances with little in common beyond a name. In contrast, this Article highlights the analogies …