Breastfeeding has a long list of advantages. It offers necessary nutrition, strengthens a baby’s immune system, and promotes physical and emotional development in the first few years of life. Infant Formula and Breastmilk also has a broader environmental and economic impact on our society. Despite this it has been found that only a small percentage of infants are fed breastmilk in the first months of their lives. For instance, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that just 25% of American infants consume breast milk exclusively throughout their first six months. Infant formula is an important aspect of keeping babies healthy and fed for many parents and caregivers.
What Is Infant Formula and What It Contains?
Infant formula is essentially a substitute for breast milk. Many mothers are unable to breastfeed their children, despite the fact that it is medically recommended. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life, and continued breastfeeding until the child is two years old or beyond. However, many new mothers struggle to produce enough milk for their babies or lack the assistance they need to breastfeed. In addition, some babies have sensitive stomachs or metabolic disorders that necessitate a particular diet. Infant formula can be a good option for all of these reasons and more.
Infant formula is sold as powders in an almost infinite number of formulations, which must be reconstituted with water before use. Despite the fact that many brands promote distinct ingredients, the bulk of them include the same basic ingredients. The most crucial factor is to ensure that infants receive adequate nourishment in a safe and consistent form.
The Codex Alimentarius, a cooperative food standards initiative administered by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the World Health Organization, determines the required components for formulas on a global level. Additional rules can be imposed by individual countries. The Codex includes nearly 30 recommended nutritional ingredients that must be present in infant formula, including vitamins and minerals. The three major constituents are lipids, proteins, and carbohydrates, which are the primary building blocks that children need to grow and develop.
Infant Formula Is Divided into Three Categories:
1. Milk-based formula – These have added vegetable oils, vitamins, minerals, and iron made from cow milk. Most healthy full-term newborns can use these formulas.
2. Soy protein-based formula – These have added vegetable oils (for fat calories), corn syrup, and/or sugar (for carbohydrate). These formulas are appropriate for infants who are lactose intolerant or allergic to the full protein found in cow milk and milk-based formulas.
3. Special formulas for low-birth-weight (LBW) babies – These are low-sodium formulas for babies who need to limit their salt intake, and “predigested” protein formulas for babies who can’t handle or are allergic to proteins (casein and whey) found in cow milk and milk-based formulas.
Infant Formula Market Overview:
The global infant nutrition market, which includes formula, is predicted to grow to more than $92 billion by 2023, according to data presented at a Nestlé investor presentation in 2019. Reports and Data estimates that the global infant formula market size was USD 17.57 billion in 2020, and is predicted to register a CAGR of 7.0 percent to reach USD 29.94 billion by 2028.
Producers of infant formula such as Danone, Nestlé (Gerber), Abbott (Similac), and Mead Johnson (Enfamil) are eager to create formula that closely resembles real breast milk. This is a difficult task. Apart from lactose and fat, mother’s milk contains hundreds of components that are very hard to be replicated in a lab because they differ from one mother to the next—and even from one feeding to the next.
Innovation Will Make Infant Formula Better in Future
Though the task is difficult, research and development in the infant formula industry is paving the way for formulas that closely resemble mother’s milk and offer the same benefits. Lactoferrin, the second most abundant protein in human milk, is one of such components that is present in mother’s milk but absent in formula. Lactoferrin, as an antibacterial and antiviral agent, is particularly vital in the development of an infant’s immune system. It also aids in the absorption of iron from breast milk by newborns.
Lactoferrin is difficult to incorporate into newborn formula. Lactoferrin from bovine (cow) is used in several formulations as a replacement. Because bovine lactoferrin is collected from cow milk through an expensive purification procedure that also eliminates other nutrients, this is less than ideal.
However, Conagen, a synthetic biology firm based in Boston’s biotech sector, recently reported the development of a technology for producing lactoferrin that is extremely similar to the lactoferrin found in breast milk. Conagen researchers have created a fermentation process—the same process used to make bread, cheese, and wine—to produce a superior version of lactoferrin using biological engineering techniques. Conagen’s lactoferrin has been found to more closely resemble the human lactoferrin than any other option. This bioengineered component has the potential to bring newborn formula closer than ever before to mother’s milk.
