Thank you Ina and all the others who have chimed in on this important topic. Ina’s explanation says it well and briefly. I’m sure more info is available on the FDA website.



The bottom line is that infant formula is considered a food and not a drug/medication. The FDA standards for bringing food to market and oversight are very different for food and for drugs. That isn’t going to change any time soon.  There is a third category of medicinal food, more recently implemented. Some specialized formulas fall into this category, but not the formulas one can pick up in the grocery store. As one would expect, the standards are somewhere between food and drug.



It’s all rather complex. If someone has reason to get involved with it, there are FDA consultants (and I imagine various webinars and print materials from FDA and the outside consultants) to help folks navigate the system.



Naomi









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Naomi Bar-Yam, Ph.D.

Director Emerita

Mothers’ Milk Bank Northeast

Cell: 617-599-2902

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