Adult Nutritionals

Adult nutritional formulas are foods primarily composed of the same basic food constituents as those found in conventional foods. Ingredients include macronutrients such as proteins, carbohydrates, and lipids, and micronutrients, including vitamins and minerals. Adult nutritional formulas can provide nutritional benefits to both "healthy" and "sick" adults. Many of these products provide complete balanced nutrition while others are very specialized formulas for particular nutritional needs (often referred to as "medical foods").

In this era of health promotion and disease prevention, people of all ages are recognizing the importance of proper nutrition. When used as a supplement, complete nutrition formulas can conveniently help fill in the nutritional gaps for healthy individuals with diminished appetites or those who do not have the time or find it difficult, with today's demanding lifestyles, to eat a nutritionally balanced diet. The International Formula Council (IFC) recommends that healthy individuals purchasing these products refer to the Nutrition Facts label, as they should with all foods, for guidance in managing their nutritional needs. When these products are used in a medical setting, they should be used as directed under medical supervision.

For adults who have special dietary needs to manage a specific disease or condition, a disease specific enteral formula¹, also known as a medical food, may be needed. "A medical food is a food which is formulated to be consumed or administered enterally under the supervision of a physician and which is intended for the specific dietary management of a disease or condition for which distinctive nutritional requirements, based on scientific principles, are established by medical evaluation." (The term “Medical foods” is defined in the Orphan Drug Act Amendments of 1988 [21 USC 360ee(b)(3)]; the definition is incorporated by reference into the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act of 1990 (NLEA); and into the Agency's final rule on Mandatory Nutritional Labeling, January 1993.) Medical foods have been developed for patients with a wide variety of diseases and conditions requiring specialized dietary management to meet their nutritional needs, including those resulting from altered metabolism caused by the underlying disease or condition. They contain ingredients and nutrients found in the food supply, which typically have a long history of consumption and recognized safety. It is important to note that a medical food is not a drug. Medical foods are intended for specific dietary management of a disease state, not to treat or cure a disease.

IFC member companies take great care in formulating, manufacturing and labeling products to the highest standards, mandated by the FDA, to ensure maximum reliability, safety and nutritional support.

¹An enteral formula is fed either orally or through a feeding tube into the stomach or intestines, in contrast to a parenteral formula, which is administered through the vein bypassing the gastrointestinal tract.