1) COMMERCIAL INTERESTS DRIVING STANDARDS FOR FORMULA MILK
(Editorial: Standards for infant milk formula)
http://bmj.com/cgi/content/full/332/7542/621
Commercial interests may be the strongest driver of what goes into
formula milk, warn child health experts in this week’s BMJ.
Professors Berthold Koletzko and Raanan Shamir describe a meeting in
Bonn, Germany in November 2005 to revise the standard on infant formula.
The meeting involved government delegations, non-governmental
organizations, and other groups with commercial interests in infant
formula.
Infant formula must meet very high quality standards. The Codex
Alimentarius Commission, part of both the Food and Agriculture
Organisation of the United Nations and the World Health Organisation,
develops standards and guidelines on food to protect consumers’ health
and to ensure fair trade practices globally.
Three scientific reviews all agree that the safe level of infant formula
protein should be based on a recognised nitrogen conversion factor. In
Bonn, however, the International Dairy Federation demanded that the
proportion of protein in formula derived from cows’ milk should be based
on a larger nitrogen conversion factor.
Even though no scientific arguments were put forward to justify the
federation’s request, and it would falsely indicate that cow's milk
protein is superior to human milk protein, it got support from several
member states with strong dairy industries.
While the industry argues that using the lower nitrogen conversion
factor would lead to a loss of some €80m (£55m; $96m) for the dairy
industry in Europe alone, this is clearly not the case if the
appropriate factor is applied to infant feeding products.
Another controversial issue was the approach to setting maximum values
for nutrients. The scientific expert report recommended that the
contents of water soluble vitamins in infant formulas should not exceed
five times the minimum level unless there are data to justify other
decisions.
But, contrary to this strong scientific advice, some member states
requested that the maximum values should be established only for levels
of nutrients with documented adverse effects in infants, while in all
other cases only interim upper values should be established which would
not be binding for manufacturers.
Moreover, the US delegation requested that both maximum values and
guidance values should not be lower than values used for formulas
already on the market, even if such levels have not been subjected to
systematic evaluation of their biological effects and safety.
The worldwide medical community might question the basis of these
decisions and might rise to reject such commercial pressures, suggest
the authors.
Doctors should choose and recommend only those infant formulas with
compositions based on current scientific knowledge and on the
nutritional requirements of infants, they conclude.
Contact:
Berthold V Koletzko, Professor of Paediatrics, Dr von Haunersches
Kinderspital, Munich, Germany
Email: [log in to unmask]
Esther G
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