The study from Keele University examined 15 branded ready-made and powdered milks for infants and found concentrations of aluminium were up to 40 times higher than are present in breast milk and several times higher than are allowed in drinking water. Powdered milk formulas “contained significantly more aluminium” than ready-made products.
The results were based on tests carried out on products from manufacturers Cow & Gate, Hipp Organic, SMA Nutrition and Aptamil.
Processing equipment, storage facilities and packaging were all highlighted as possible sources of contamination, speculated lead researchers Dr Chris Exley and Shelle-Ann Burrell.
“Recent research demonstrating the vulnerability of infants to aluminium serves to highlight an urgent need to reduce the aluminium content of infant formulas to as low a level as practically possible”, declared the study called ‘There is (still) too much aluminium in infant formulas’.
But Danone, which owns both the Cow & Gate and Aptamil brands, said the aluminium content of its products had been cleared by European regulators - which had also recently said current aluminium levels in formula posed no health risk.
Methodology
The milk formula samples used in the Keele study were prepared by microwave digestion of acid/peroxide mixtures and their aluminium content determined by Transversely Heated Graphite Atomizer (THGA). Categories of formula included those for preterm babies up to products for infants aged six months and over. All products were sampled directly from their packaging to avoid extraneous contamination and ready-made liquid products were shaken between each sampling. Five replicate samples were prepared for each product – with each sample measured three times.
Findings
The research found that concentrations of the metal ranged from ca 176 to 700 µg/L in ready-made milks – with the highest concentration found in a product for pre-term babies. Consumption of these milk formulas would result in the ingestion of up to 600 µg of aluminium a day, said the team.
They also discovered that powders used to make milk contained aluminium levels from around 2.4 to 4.3 µg/g. The latter reading was for a soya-based brand and equated to a ready-to-drink concentration of 629 µg/L.
“Generally, the greatest exposure to aluminium was through Hipp Organic products and the SMA soya-based products”, said the research published in the journal BMC Pediatrics.
Historical issue
Dr Exley said that the presence of significant amounts of aluminium in infant formula has been known for decades and that the latest results show these levels have remained broadly unchanged for over a quarter of a century.
“This lack of improvement in lowering their content [of aluminium] suggests either that the manufacturers are not monitoring the aluminium content of their products or that the manufacturers are not concerned at these levels of contamination”, he concluded.
The paper acknowledged there was no evidence that present levels of aluminium in infant formula caused adverse effects in healthy infants, but added that no clinical studies had yet been carried out to refute such a possibility.
Research has highlighted the potential toxicity of aluminium for infants with confounding disorders such as prematurity, poor renal function and gastrointestinal disease. This should, at least, deter complacency, said the study.
It added that manufacturers should make every effort to reduce the aluminium content of infant formulas and be compelled to indicate the level of the metal on packaging.
Minimising aluminium
Responding to the findings, Danone said the health and well-being of babies was its first priority.
“We take every precaution to ensure that aluminium levels in our formula are kept to an absolute minimum through monitoring and ensuring that aluminium is not added in any of our ingredients and that our formulas do not come into contact with aluminium in the production process or in packaging,” a company spokeswoman told FoodProductionDaily.com.
She added that analysis by both the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and the UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) had demonstrated the aluminium content of its infant formula products were within the Tolerable Weekly Intake set in 2008.
“We have already sought the advice of the Food Standards Agency on this issue,” said the spokeswoman. "The FSA has said that, based on the EFSA opinion, that ‘their recent surveys of infant formula do not raise concerns about aluminium intake for infants in the UK fed on cows' milk-based formula'."
The company said it was studying the new data from Keele University very carefully and had started to compare the researchers’ results with their own and that of the FSA for all their products. It noted that Keele University had not compared their data to the Tolerable Weekly Intake.
The spokeswoman concluded: “In the light of this new data we will continue to analyse and monitor our products and work with the authorities to ensure that our formulas continue to be within the safety limit. Parents can be reassured that our advice and the advice of the FSA is that there is no need to change their baby’s feed.”
FoodProductionDaily.com contacted both Hipp Organic and SMA Nutrition but received no reply prior to publication.