Abstract

Thirty-two dried milk preparations, designed for infant feeding and obtained from 7 European countries, have been analysed for nitrogen, carbohydrate, fat, the distribution of fatty acids in the fat, and 8 inorganic constituents.

The composition of the milks differed considerably. Some were full-cream dried milks. Many had carbohydrate added in the form of lactose, sucrose, or dextrimaltose. Some were `half-cream', others had had all the milk fat removed and replaced by a mixture of animal and vegetable fats or, in one instance, by maize oil alone. The fatty acid composition of these milks varied considerably, and linoleic acid accounted for up to 58% of the total fat in one as compared with 9% of the fat in human milk and 1 to 2% of that in cow's milk.

All the milks contained considerably more calcium and phosphorus per 100 g solids than human milk, some of them four times as much. Some milks had had an iron salt added during manufacture, and a few contained added copper.