Irish Wedding News
11/10/2013
Researchers, whose study is published in the journal BMC Pediatrics, added that well-known brands of the formula milk all contained levels of the metal which are too high.
In 2010, the group at Keele, headed by Professor Chris Exley, published a paper showing that the aluminium content of infant formulas was too high. It has now followed up the research with a more intensive study which looked at 30 of the most popular brands of infant formula sold in the UK.
Manufacturers say they do not add aluminium to their products, but many formulas are often packaged in aluminium foil and the metal may be found in the ingredients or processing. It occurs naturally in soya plants due to the acidic soil they are grown in.
Experts are now calling for manufacturers to lower the amount of aluminium that ends up in their products, or to print the aluminium level they contain, so parents can make an informed choice on which formula to buy.
Through the study, some formula baby milk was found to contain 100 times more aluminium than breast milk.
Professor Exley said: "We believe this is too much aluminium to be subjecting a human to at their most vulnerable stage of life.
"We know an awful lot about aluminium but we don't know an awful lot about how it impacts on human health.
"People have almost certainly heard about the link with Alzheimer's disease and other neurological conditions and we know from studies that it influences the way in which bones form.
"Aluminium can also produce anaemia in individuals, which is not then helped by giving people more iron.
"How may this aluminium be impacting on the immediate and long-term health of the baby - these are questions that are still unanswered.
"What we don't know is whether aluminium is accumulating in the bodies of formula-fed babies. If it is, aluminium has no biological function at all, you have no requirement for it.
"Simply the fact we don't have experiments showing that it's either safe or not safe in humans certainly doesn't mean it's not an issue."
Results showed both ready-to-drink and powdered varieties had a similar concentration of aluminium overall, but the highest levels were found in soya-based milks.
Among ready-to-drink types, SMA toddler milk had the lowest concentration, while growing up milks produced by Cow And Gate and Aptamil had the highest concentrations.
For powdered milks, Hipp Organic growing up milk had the lowest level, with the soya-based formulations having the highest concentrations of aluminium, as well as SMA toddler milk and Hipp Organic first infant milk also recording high levels.
Professor Exley said it was unclear how the aluminium was getting into the milk.
"There's a very good chance that some of this aluminium is coming from the packaging and an equal chance it is in the ingredients. Processing is also likely to be a source," he suggested.
However, he also said: "Clearly the manufacturers of infant formulas are not concerned about reducing their content of aluminium and the extensive use of aluminium-based packaging for infant formulas seems to confirm this.
"There are no adequate criteria upon which to base a safety level for aluminium in infant formulas and for this reason it would be sensible to take action to reduce the level of aluminium to a lowest practicable level."
(JP/IT)
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Concerns Raised Over Formula Baby Milk
New research from Keele University, Staffordshire, has revealed that infant formulas are still heavily contaminated with aluminium.Researchers, whose study is published in the journal BMC Pediatrics, added that well-known brands of the formula milk all contained levels of the metal which are too high.
In 2010, the group at Keele, headed by Professor Chris Exley, published a paper showing that the aluminium content of infant formulas was too high. It has now followed up the research with a more intensive study which looked at 30 of the most popular brands of infant formula sold in the UK.
Manufacturers say they do not add aluminium to their products, but many formulas are often packaged in aluminium foil and the metal may be found in the ingredients or processing. It occurs naturally in soya plants due to the acidic soil they are grown in.
Experts are now calling for manufacturers to lower the amount of aluminium that ends up in their products, or to print the aluminium level they contain, so parents can make an informed choice on which formula to buy.
Through the study, some formula baby milk was found to contain 100 times more aluminium than breast milk.
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Professor Exley said: "We believe this is too much aluminium to be subjecting a human to at their most vulnerable stage of life.
"We know an awful lot about aluminium but we don't know an awful lot about how it impacts on human health.
"People have almost certainly heard about the link with Alzheimer's disease and other neurological conditions and we know from studies that it influences the way in which bones form.
"Aluminium can also produce anaemia in individuals, which is not then helped by giving people more iron.
"How may this aluminium be impacting on the immediate and long-term health of the baby - these are questions that are still unanswered.
"What we don't know is whether aluminium is accumulating in the bodies of formula-fed babies. If it is, aluminium has no biological function at all, you have no requirement for it.
"Simply the fact we don't have experiments showing that it's either safe or not safe in humans certainly doesn't mean it's not an issue."
Results showed both ready-to-drink and powdered varieties had a similar concentration of aluminium overall, but the highest levels were found in soya-based milks.
Among ready-to-drink types, SMA toddler milk had the lowest concentration, while growing up milks produced by Cow And Gate and Aptamil had the highest concentrations.
For powdered milks, Hipp Organic growing up milk had the lowest level, with the soya-based formulations having the highest concentrations of aluminium, as well as SMA toddler milk and Hipp Organic first infant milk also recording high levels.
Professor Exley said it was unclear how the aluminium was getting into the milk.
"There's a very good chance that some of this aluminium is coming from the packaging and an equal chance it is in the ingredients. Processing is also likely to be a source," he suggested.
However, he also said: "Clearly the manufacturers of infant formulas are not concerned about reducing their content of aluminium and the extensive use of aluminium-based packaging for infant formulas seems to confirm this.
"There are no adequate criteria upon which to base a safety level for aluminium in infant formulas and for this reason it would be sensible to take action to reduce the level of aluminium to a lowest practicable level."
(JP/IT)
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