It is the first thing that a new-born baby will taste and its nutritional content is considered vital to ensure a healthy start to life. But few would expect a mother's breast milk to be at the centre of an international sports scandal.
Calls were issued yesterday for an investigation into the effect on athletes of colostrum - a yellow fluid new mothers produce in their breast milk - after it emerged it was being given to members of the Australian cycling team at the Commonwealth Games. The yellow sticky substance includes a growth hormone banned by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
Team members are being given colostrum from cows in an experiment approved by Australian officials. Its use in sport has never been heard of until now.
Rich in proteins and immunoglobulins, the substance is thought to be ideal for building resistance to infection, something which athletes are prone to when heavily training. Colostrum also contains the growth hormone, IGF-1, which is on the IOC's list of banned substances and is used by athletes to aid body building.
Colostrum helps repair damaged tissue, releases other hormones and promotes the production of cells. In new-born babies it helps to activate hormones and naturally immunise against infection.
Since the beginning of the year, a laboratory in Adelaide has been testing the effects of colostrum extracted from cows' milk on Olympic cyclists. The trial has been approved by an Adelaide University ethics committee which helped formulate the experiments.
Australian cycling team doctor, Mr Peter Barnes, said: "Our general impression is that there has been less illness. It does seem to have beneficial effects on resistance levels and we would encourage its use in these heavy training phases."
The British Olympic Association yesterday called for a full investigation into the use of colostrum. Association chief, Mr Simon Clegg, said: "I have never heard of it being used in sport before. The fact that it is pharmaceutically extracted worries me. Some serious work needs to be done on its impact on athletes and what effect it has on enhancing performance. We also need to know the levels of IGF-1 in colostrum."
Ms Michelle Verroken, head of the anti-doping unit at the UK Sports Council said: "We have to ask whether the use of colostrum is a legitimate scientific advancement for sport, or cheating. Nobody knows where the dividing line is."
Dr Barnes, who is chairman of the Australian Drugs in Sport Committee, said he would not be involved in administering banned substances. "The colostrum we are giving team members is a dairy product, not a drug."
According to reports, some cycling team members are anxious about the uncertain status of colostrum following the drug scandals that have recently surrounded the sport, including the Tour de France in Ireland in July.
The use of colostrum further highlights the use by sports people of biological compounds which are naturally produced by the body. With regular drugs such as steroids easy to detect, many athletes are turning to more obscure, natural substances. Australian officials are preparing to implement the most rigorous drug testing regime for the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney and have already called for athletes caught importing or taking performance-enhancing drugs to be treated in the same way as those caught in possession of heroin.