Innovation of Infant Formula Products and DHA/ARA
September 29, 2009
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IFC Comments Regarding Innovation of Infant Formula Products and DHA/ARA
Infant formula has been developed through the latest scientific research to meet the nutritional needs of infants. As scientific knowledge expands regarding the role of nutrients in optimizing growth and development - right down to the cellular level - refinements supported by this information are made to infant formulas in order to provide infants with the best possible nutrition when breast milk is not available. The ability to implement innovative scientific infant nutrition findings and thereby improve infant formulas is critical to ensuring babies receive the best possible product - one that is as similar to human milk as technologically feasible.
Advancements in infant formula are the result of decades of research and dedication to nutritional science. This research has led to important breakthroughs that make formulas for healthy term infants as close as possible to breast milk. Additionally, new science has enabled the development of a wide range of specialized infant formulas that provide premature babies, and babies with challenging nutritional problems, the sustenance to survive, and thrive.
While some media reports have questioned the need for infant formulas supplemented with doxahexanoic acid (DHA) and arachidonic acid (ARA), it is important to note that formulas enhanced with DHA and ARA have been shown to provide visual and mental development similar to that of the breastfed infant. Internationally, infant formulas have been supplemented with these ingredients for years. In October 1993, a joint Food Agriculture Organization (FAO) and World Health Organization (WHO) expert consultation concluded long chain poly unsaturated fatty acids (LCPUFAs), including DHA and ARA, "should be included in infant formula." U.S. infant formula manufacturers began to offer formulas containing DHA and ARA in 2002, following over a decade of research by scientists in industry and academia studying safety and biological effects in animals and clinical effects of dietary supplementation with DHA and ARA in infants, culminating in numerous prospective, randomized, double-blinded clinical trials. While many other food manufacturers have begun adding DHA/ARA to their products for health benefit, their research is limited in comparison to that for use in infant formula.
Further, the use of these LCPUFAs in infant formulas has been reviewed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and endorsed by nutrition and health organizations worldwide (the American Dietetic Association and the Dietitians of Canada, the Codex Alimentarius Commission, the European Society for Paediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, the World Association of Perinatal Medicine and Child Health Foundation, the FAO and WHO the Commission of European Communities and the National Academy of Sciences).
Infant formula remains the most highly regulated food in the world. Parents and health professionals can rest assured that infant formula is safe and nutritious.
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*The International Formula Council is an association of manufacturers and marketers of formulated nutrition products, e.g., infant formulas and adult nutritionals, whose members are based predominantly in North America. IFC members are: Abbott Nutrition; Mead Johnson Nutrition; Nestlé Infant Nutrition; and Pfizer Nutrition.