Debbie,
You asked for comments on the article in Reuters on oligosaccharides added to
preterm formula.  Yes, there are patents on this process and yes it is
genetically engineered.  There is a pdf file from the UK Scientific Advisory
Committee on Nutrition about this addition dated February 2002.  Initially
they had some concerns about this addition "(concerns about possible
dehydration in young infants and in  particular the risks to infants
undergoing water balance stress-during fever and infectious diarrhea).  Other
safety concerns were a more rapid intestinal transport of loose stools with
the potential to interfere with the bioavailability of substrates."
http://www.doh.gov.uk/sacn/sacn0201.pdf

Those concerns were addressed by the manufacturer and obviously they got
approval.  There is a patent at the US Patent Office called "Infant formula,"
 patent # 6190724 with the inventor being Sawatzki et al and the assignee is
N.V. Nutricia (Nutricia is part of Numico-the company mentioned in the
Reuter's article).  This patent explains the reasons for the use of these
oligosaccharides and from the descriptions it is obviously genetically
engineered.  Thought this portion of the patent worth looking at.  Please
note that this is a patent owned by a formula company and they are admitting
that their previous formulas can cause infant's gastrointestinal problems
into adulthood.  Rather profound confession...Valerie W. McClain, IBCLC

http://www.uspto.gov/patft/index.html
"For the production of baby foods, in particular milk baby foods or infant
milk formulas, respectively, inter alia cow's milk or components from cow's
milk are used. These include for example cow's milk proteins (caseins and
whey proteins). Now cow's milk proteins differ considerably from those of
human milk. One of the fundamental differences is the ratio of caseins and
whey proteins. Thus cow's milk has a whey protein/casein ratio of ca. 20:80,
while in human milk this ratio is about 60:40 (50:50). Moreover, not only is
there a difference in the whey protein/casein ratio, but also the individual
whey proteins and caseins differ from one another. Thus for example human
milk contains no .beta.lactoglobulin and also no .alpha.-casein. However in
cow's milk these proteins make up ca. 50% of the total protein. In contrast
to this, human milk protein contains ca. 25% of so-called immunological
proteins, such as lactoferrin and secretory immunoglobulin A (sigA). Further
differences between human and bovine proteins, even when they are identical
in name, consist in the amino acid composition, in the 3-dimensional
structure and in the chemical composition. Thus for example human
.kappa.-casein contains about 40% carbohydrates and bovine .kappa.-casein
only about 10%. These are only a few of the differences between cow's milk
proteins and human milk proteins; many others could also be cited.

These differences have the effect that the amino acid uptake from the
gastrointestinal tract of babies from human milk proteins is different to
that from the proteins of standard commercial infant formulas, which are also
described as formula foods. Such formula foods are "artificially" produced.
In other words, the attempt is made to imitate maternal milk as "exactly" as
possible, starting from animal and/or plant starting materials, these being
in particular proteins, fats and carbohydrates.

The qualitative differences between proteins in formula foods and human milk
proteins i.e. mother's milk proteins overall result in a different course of
digestion. Thus for example the residence time of the human milk proteins in
the stomach is shorter than that of the proteins from formula foods. On the
other hand, the enzymatic breakdown of the human milk proteins in the small
intestine takes place considerably more slowly than that of the proteins from
formula foods. As a result, the supply of proteins, peptides and amino acids
in the different sections of the gastrointestinal tract during digestion of
proteins from formula foods does not correspond to the supply during the
digestion of human milk proteins. This specific supply for the individual
sections of the gastrointestinal tract is an important signal for the
morphological and functional development of the intestinal section concerned.
If the processes of the digestion of proteins from formula foods and mother's
milk proteins are not matched, there is different development of important
intestinal functions. These differences can persist into adulthood, and
create the basis for increased susceptibility to gastrointestinal diseases.

It has now been found that during a cycle from one meal to the next the
uptake of amino acids from proteins from formula foods corresponds to the
amino acid uptake from a food with the same amount of human milk proteins at
practically no time in the amino acid uptake cycle. The amount and mutual
ratio of the individual amino acids taken up affect not only the amino acid
supply to the tissues (and hence the tissue-specific protein synthesis) but
also, as signals for the secretion of hormones and enterohormones, play an
important part in the regulation of the postprandial metabolism. The
morphological development of the brain, the morphological maturation and
functional determination of the gastrointestinal tract and also the
differentiation of the metabolism are completed in the initial months of
life. Hence the regulation processes triggered by the food during this time
are of great significance for subsequent development. Because of the
chronological determination of the development phases, this applies
particularly for the brain.

The purpose of the present invention is to provide protein mixtures for an
infant formula (baby food) or formula food which creates just as good
metabolic conditions for the normal development of the child as feeding with
mother's milk proteins i.e. human milk proteins."


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