Comparative fat absorption in healthy termed infants consuming infant formulae with different fat blends.

Breast milk represents optimum nutrition for full-term babies throughout infancy. An important component of breast milk is fat which covers approximately 50% of its caloric content. Almost 98% of fat in breast milk is in the form of triacylglycerols (TAGs). Palmitic acid (C16:0) is the major saturated fatty acid in the TAGs of breast milk, corresponding to 20-25% of its total fatty acid content. More than 60% of palmitic acid in breast milk is esterified to the second carbon (or â-position) of glycerol (sn-2) in the TAGs and as such it is called â-palmitate. Is has been proved by various clinical trials that this specific structure of human breast milk’s fat content can contribute in the absorption of fat and minerals, as well as overall gut comfort.

When breast-feeding is not adequate, feasible or desirable, infant formulae are the next alternative. Vegetable oils, that are traditionally used as matrices for the preparation of infant formulae, have a lower content of â-palmitate (i.e. 5-20% of their total palmitic acid content) compared to breast milk. On the other hand, cow’s milk content of â-palmitate, although lower than that of breast milk, is approximately 40%.

For these reasons, increasing the sn-2 palmitic acid content in milk formulae, by using cow’s milk fat, could potentially lead to a higher absorption of palmitic acid, total fatty acids and calcium, in comparison to milk formulae containing TAGs derived mainly from vegetable oils which have a high concentration of sn-1 and sn-3 palmitic acid.

Infant formulae with higher levels of milk fat result in improved fatty acids absorption as compared to standard formula.

Fatty acids absorption:

stool sample analysis and food intake diary

timepoint: 2 and 4 weeks

Calcium absorption:

stool sample analysis and food intake diary

timepoint: 2 and 4 weeks

Gut comfort:

ROME III questionnaire and Amsterdam Infant Stool Scale

timepoint: 0, 2 and 4 weeks

Body weight & recumbent length

timepoint: 0, 2 and 4 weeks.

Following recruitment and before treatment allocation all infants will be fed with a standard formula and this will be considered as a wash-out period. After the washout period, at week 0, half of the infants will be randomly allocated to receive for 2 weeks (Period I) the standard formula, while the other half of the infants will be randomly allocated to receive a milk fat formula. After 2 weeks, the two groups will be crossed-over to receive the other formulae for the subsequent 2 weeks (Period II).