Breast milk didn’t freeze in the freezer

You’re pumping and throw that bag of liquid gold in the freezer, but when you come back the next day the bag is still liquid. Puzzled, you hit up google only to find no actual answers for why this happened.

There is only one research study done in Spanish that has attempted to research this phenomenon. Here’s what we know:
🍷It’s not because you’ve had too much alcohol. Yes, alcohol has a lower freezing temperature, but the amount of alcohol you’d have to consume to get that level in your milk would land you in the hospital
🧊Check to make sure your freezer is at the correct temperature.
🥶The quick fix is to take the bag out of the freezer, shake it vigorously and put it back in the freezer in a single layer without it touching other bags
🍦 There are a few theories about this. One PhD chemist says it has to do with the high osmolarity of that particular milk. Basically it has extra nutrients than other milk, extra vitamins and most likely a higher fat content  it’s why it doesn’t happen all the time
🔬Dr. João Aprigio Guerra de Almeida is Coordinator of the Network of Milk Banks of Brazil and states:
“The fact that human milk does not freeze is associated with a phenomenon called gelation, which is autocatalytic, begins even inside the mammillary ducts, continues after extraction, and is accentuated by temperature fluctuations (heating to thaw, pasteurization and cooling) and does not disqualify the milk for consumption.” Basically, pressure from the ducts changes the protein structure of the milk which prevents the milk from freezing. Even if the milk is kept at -18ºC in the freezer, it does not freeze, because the proteins form a network that ignites the water molecules, preventing them from coming together to form ice crystals.

Have you ever experienced this with your milk?
The discussion by Dr. João Aprigio Guerra de Almeida is translated from Spanish from an original blog post written on December 14, 2018  by Gema Cárcamo González-IBCLC: SOS, mi leche materna no se congela.

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