K A S H R U T . C O M_©

October 21, 2023 from the MedPage Today:

"Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) has returned to the Upper Midwest of the United States with a vengeance. After a break from spring through early fall, new case reports are stacking up for commercial flocks.

"Older infant-young child formulas (OIYCFs) are nutritionally incomplete and should not be used as a substitute for prescribed medical formulas, according to new American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) guidance.

"The AAP report aims to clarify 'the uncertainty and misperception' around increasingly popular OIYCFs, which currently do not have uniform national or international criteria dictating the composition or definition of formulas for children older than 12 months. Also, the FDA does not have a distinct category for OIYCFs like it does for standard infant formulas.

"OIYCFs include 'transition formulas,' 'follow-on formulas,' or 'weaning formulas,' for children ages 6 to 24 months, and 'toddler milks or formulas,' 'growing-up milks,' or 'young child milks,' for kids ages 12 to 36 months, according to the clinical report, published in Pediatrics.

"OIYCFs are 'not nutritionally complete,' according to the report, so are not appropriate substitutes for medical nutritional therapy for older infants and young kids with malnutrition, swallowing dysfunction, or feeding aversions or conditions like cerebral palsy. And they are not adequate for those with disease-specific requirements, such as those related to celiac disease.

"OIYCFs are "not nutritionally complete," according to the report, so are not appropriate substitutes for medical nutritional therapy for older infants and young kids with malnutrition, swallowing dysfunction, or feeding aversions or conditions like cerebral palsy. And they are not adequate for those with disease-specific requirements, such as those related to celiac disease.

"Fuchs' group called for OIYCFs to distinguish themselves from standard infant formula in promotional materials. Product names should not be linked to infant formula, and products should not be labeled as formula, but given names such as "drink" or "beverage." Also, products should not be placed in store shelves alongside standard infant formulas."