Probiotic formula settles well
This article was originally published in The Tan Sheet
Executive Summary
Results of Nestle-sponsored research show an experimental infant formula containing a probiotic was as "safe and well-tolerated" as the control formula provided for seven months to infants who were not breast fed after each was 14 days old. The 55 infants in the control group and the 42 in the experimental group showed equivalence in mean weight gain and no statistically significant differences in recumbent length, head circumference or incidence of adverse events, according to Giuseppe Puccio, M.D., of the University of Palermo's Neonatology Institute of Obstetrics, Italy, et al. Additionally, infants in the probiotic group had fewer constipation problems and "had stool characteristics that suggest that the experimental formula was tolerated well," the researchers say. The study was conducted to determine whether the establishment of an intestinal microbiota in the gastrointestinal tract can come from using formula with a probiotic similar to the bifidobacteria created by non-digestible oligosaccharides in human breast milk. The control formula was Nestle's Nan starter formula and the experimental formula was Nan plus units of BL999 probiotic and a mixture of 90% galacto- and 10% fructo-oligosaccharides, according to the study published in the January issue of Nutrition...