Canola infant formulas support normal growth: Study

[Guest guest]

A new study that reexamined data on the length and weight gain of infants

indicates that infant formula containing canola oil supports normal growth.

Canola<http://www.nutraingredients-usa.com/content/search?SearchText=canola & From\

News>is

a form of rapeseed that is low in erucic acid and high in contains a

high

proportion of monounsaturated fatty-acids and low levels of saturated fats.

According to the authors of the new study from Germany, this nutritional

profile *“facilitates the manufacture of infant formula with a fatty acid

profile more similar to human milk”.*

In the US canola oil is not generally recognised as safe (GRAS) only in

foods, edible fats and oils for non-infant consumption. This is because

erucic acid has been associated with myocardial defects in some animal

studies.

In Europe, however, there is no restriction on the use of canola oil in

infant formula, the authors point out. In finished products, however, erucic

acid may not make up more than 1 per cent of the total fat content.

However while canola-containing infant products have been used in studies to

investigate the effects of the linoleic acid:alpha-linoleic acid ration on

visual function, Rzehak and colleagues from Germany found little

published data to compare the safety of

formulas<http://www.nutraingredients-usa.com/content/search?SearchText=formulas & \

FromNews>containing

canola with those that did not.

In order to assess the effects on growth, they re-analyzed data on infant

weight and length from a prospective double-blind trial in full-term

infants, known as the German Infant Nutritional Intervention (GINI) study.

This involved some 2252 babies born in Munich between September 1995 and

July 1996.

Data on the length and weight of babies that were fed canola formula and

non-canola formula were compared in weeks 4-5, month 3-4, and month 6 to 7

after birth.

The team found that although infants fed canola tended to be longer and

heavier in general, no differences were seen in terms of weight gain or

growth in any of the three periods or across the whole period.

*“We conclude that infant formulas containing part of the lipid source as

canola oil have no adverse effects on infant growth, neither in weight nor

in length compared to feeding a formula without canola oil,”* they wrote in

a report accepted for publication in the journal Clinical Nutrition.

*Limitation *

One limitation of the study that was mentioned was that the stringent

inclusion criteria meant that only 85 infants’ data could be included in the

study. The babies had to be feeding on the respective formulas exclusively

for the first 16 weeks of life.

What is more, the formulas in the canola and non-canola groups were not the

same. The researchers pointed out that any compositional aspects with a

detrimental effect on growth would have been detected in overall growth

effects of the formula.

Source

Clinical Nutrition (online ahead of print)

DOI: 10.1016/j.clnu.2010.11.002

*Growth of infants fed formula rich in canola oil (low erucic acid rapeseed

oil)*

Authors: Rzehak, Sibylle Koletzko, Berthold Koletzko, Stefanie

Sausenthaler, Dietrich Reinhardt, Armin Grübl, Carl Bauer, Ursula

Krämer, Bollrath, von Berg,

Dietrich Berdel, H.-h Wichmann, Joachim Heinrich.

LINK

here<http://www.nutraingredients-usa.com/Research/Canola-infant-formulas-support\

-normal-growth-Study/?c=T0QtS5cvuDVXfgLbeXYWoA%3D%3D & utm_source=newsletter_daily\

& utm_medium=email & utm_campaign=Newsletter%2BDaily>

--

Ortiz, MS, RD

*The FRUGAL Dietitian* <http://www.thefrugaldietitian.com>

Check out my blog: mixture of deals and nutrition

*Win the Book: " Your Money or Your Life: 9 Steps to Transforming Your

Relationship with Money and Achieving Financial Independence: Revised and

Updated for the 21st Century " <http://thefrugaldietitian.com/?p=11644>*

Get Life Insurance Free for parents with

children<http://thefrugaldietitian.com/?p=11827><http://thefrugaldietitian.com/?\

p=10437> " Nutrition

is a science, Not an Opinion survey "