Nutritional Adequacy of Commercial Infant Milk Formulas

Abstract

The nutritional adequacy of six commonly consumed commercial infant milk formulas were evaluated chemically and biologically in growing rats. Infant formulas (per 100 kcal) provided protein (2.2–2.6 g), fat (4.9–5.4 g), available carbohydrates (10.3–11.4 g), Ca (62.5–80.8 mg), P (31.3–66.1 mg), Fe (0.7–1.8 mg), Zn (0.5–0.8 mg), and Cu (0.05–0.08 mg). The energy density varied between 503 and 526 kcal/100 g. Higher levels of linoleic and saturated fatty acids than in human milk were found. Methionine, tryptophan and lysine were the first, second, and third limiting amino acids in all infant formulas. The true protein digestibility (TD), net protein utilization (NPU), biological value (BV) and utilizable protein (UP) varied from 93–96%, 0.75–0.79, 80–82% and 8.7–10.5% respectively. The protein quality of infant formulas was lower than in cow's milk and human milk.

KEYWORDS:

• nutritional adequacy
• infant formulas
• chemical composition
• fatty acids
• amino acids
• protein quality

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The author gratefully acknowledges the technical assistance of Dr. Ishan Ullah and Omar Karar, and financial support by the Research Center, College of Applied Medical Sciences, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Notes

AOAC (2005). Association of Official Analytical Chemists. Official Methods of Analysis Washington D.C.

Food and Agriculture Organization/World Health Organization (1991). Protein quality evaluation. Report of Joint FAO/WHO Expert Consultation. Food and Nutrition Paper 51, FAO, Rome.