Goats milk formula

This doesn't yet seem to be common knowledge but on 17 September the Department of Health issued new instructions to all health professionals that infant milk formulas based on goats milk protein are not suitable as a source of nutrition for infants under 12 months of age.

You can read the full text of the circular on the Department of Health Website but the essence of it is that they do not recommend its use and have contacted distributors and manufacturers to ask them to stop marketing the product in the UK.

It goes on to explain that there is no evidence to show incidence of allergic reaction is lower using goat based formula than when using cow based formula.

Its illegal for a non-qualified person to give advice relating to baby formula and therefore I am not going to add any comments other than to relay the facts as set out in the circular, however I know for a fact that at least one retailer is still selling the best known goats milk based baby formula. Parents who are concerned about the situation should consult their medical practitioner, health visitor or midwife as there are alternatives that can be prescribed for infants with diagnosed milk protein allergy.

posted by Richard @ 4:03 AM