• by Les Luchter , Staff Writer, February 13, 2025

A lack of adequate maternity leave in the U.S.  led to MilkFresh, a first-of-its-kind CPG product that tracks the temperature, and thus the safety, of pumped breast milk.

The percentage of U.S. babies who start out being breastfed by their mothers increased from 73% in 2004 to 84% in 2021, according to the Centers for Disease Control, which still has a web page recommending that moms exclusively breastfeed their infants for about the first six months of life -- and then continue to do so “while introducing appropriate complementary foods for 1 year or longer.”

But many women “pack it in early due to issues like milk supply concerns, pain, and limited workplace support,” points out Dr. Talbot’s, a 14-year-old seller of natural health products that launched MilkFresh in October, declaring “No more crying over spoiled milk.”

“It’s quite normal to be pumping milk at work, storing it in a bag or bottle, and then traveling home at some point,” explains Helen Curran, CMO of Dr. Talbot’s. “During that journey, the milk will be exposed to different temperatures, and the temperature has an impact on the shelf life of the milk. MilkFresh tracks the temperature, predicting the freshness and  the shelf life of the milk.

According to Parents, a Dotdash Meredith publication, spoiled breast milk can result in bacteria growth in babies -- leading to symptoms that could include vomiting, upset stomach, diarrhea and fever, per the Children’sHealth website.

Dr. Talbot’s, whose biggest sellers have been homeopathic remedies, first dove into the market for pregnant and postpartum moms last March with a line called Dr. Talbot’s Mom. That line’s top product so far has been a $8.99 Peri-Bottle, used to cleanse the perineal area with warm water after birth. But Curran tells Pharma & Health Insider that MilkFresh is “on track to be our best seller.”

“It will change the way that moms store their milk,” she explains. “They simply put the MilkFresh sensor on the bag, and they scan it with an app that unlocks all the details on their phone.”

The sensors track both time and temperature, so that users can “see at a glance the expiration date of each bag. No need for any more guesswork about which bag to use.”

The sensor pads sell in 48-unit packages for $19.99 and 20-unit packs for $9.99. The app is free.

To produce MilkFresh, Dr. Talbot’s teamed up with Evigence, which otherwise offers a freshness monitoring platform for food companies.

FreshMilk was first launched online at Walmart.com and Dr.Talbots.com, arrived in Walmart stores in November, and a month later began to roll out to Target stores and Target.com. It’s also sold on Amazon. 

Sales are currently split 50/50 between online and brick-and-mortar, Curran says.

Dr. Talbot’s is building awareness of FreshMilk -- and educating consumers about its effectiveness vs. manual breast milk tracking -- through social media, public relations, in-store displays, influencers, search marketing, and online ads.

Promotion-wise, it has partnered with the March of Dimes to donate 300 kits containing both MilkFresh and nursing pads to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at St. Louis Children’s Hospital. 

Dr. Talbot’s, Curran points out, will also donate 1% of purchases from its website to three other nonprofits: Baby2Baby, Every Mother Counts and The Nature Conservancy.