Brazil’s milk banks scale up cheap pasteurisation life

Brazil’s free – In Rio de Janeiro, donated breast milk is tested, pasteurised and delivered to babies who need it—an approach built for scale and access. Brazil’s system, redesigned in the 1980s with inexpensive fixes and supported by courier networks, is widely credited with

In Rio de Janeiro, breast milk moves through a quiet gauntlet before it ever reaches a baby’s bottle: checked for visible contaminants, warmed and prepared for testing, and pasteurised to make it safe.

At the Instituto Fernandes Figueira. the process is staged like a careful chain—one that depends not just on lab work. but on a wider web of people making donation and delivery possible. Breast milk first gets examined for large contaminants such as hair or dust particles. any material that would cause a sample to be rejected. Then it’s warmed up and liquefied in a water bath so it can undergo more rigorous tests for biological contaminants.

Pasteurisation comes next: the milk is heated to 62.5°C for 30 minutes to kill bacteria.

The facility is not only a laboratory. It is also, in practice, a support centre for new mothers. As milk is collected, sterilised and stored, it is supplied directly to premature babies in need. Nurses can help mothers express milk as well. including in wards for premature births—because sometimes the help needed starts before donation ever becomes possible. “You see the whole circle. from the woman who was delivering [the milk] to the baby who gets it. ” says photographer Kristin Bethge. who visited and reported on Brazil’s milk banks with journalist Niklas Franzen.

That “circle” is powered by logistics across the country. Brazil’s network relies on courier drivers who crisscross long distances to pick up and deliver donated milk. making it easier for women to both donate and receive. Bethge recalls speaking with a donor who described the difference the couriers made: “We spoke to one donor. and she said. if it wasn’t for a courier to pick up her milk. she wouldn’t do it. it would just not be possible.” For Bethge. the model carries a lesson beyond Brazil: “This would be really nice for Europe and for other countries”. to adopt.

The system’s reach didn’t happen by accident. Milk banks existed in Brazil as early as the early 20th century. but they were often expensive and hard to access. In the 1980s. João Aprígio Guerra de Almeida. a young chemist. worked with Brazilian public health officials to redesign the country’s milk banks “from the ground up.” His approach leaned on cheap. creative solutions. Hot water baths from the food industry were repurposed—reported as being 10 times cheaper than standard pasteurisation machines. Glass jars used for coffee and mayonnaise were sterilised so they could be reused as milk bottles.

There’s a word in Brazil for this kind of improvisation and problem-solving: jeitinho.

Today, Brazil’s milk-bank system is frequently cited as one of the world’s best, providing some of the world’s cheapest and safest breast milk. The scale is striking: more than 200 milk banks—described as the most in the world—serve hundreds of thousands of babies.

The stakes also show up in numbers tied to broader child health. Brazil saw a more than 70 per cent drop in mortality of children under 5 from 1990 to 2015, a change many credited at least in part to the milk bank system.

As the milk moves from donor to lab to baby. the design philosophy is clear in the details: safety through testing. access through practical innovation. and speed through couriers that make participation possible. In Brazil’s milk banks. the equipment is important—but so is the system built around it. engineered to keep that “circle” unbroken.

Brazil milk banks breast milk donation pasteurisation premature babies Instituto Fernandes Figueira jeitinho child mortality courier network