Abstract

Four vitamins of the B-complex—thiamin, riboflavin, vitamin B₆, and folate—were measured in 30 dried milk preparations for babies, representing products of manufacturers in 7 European countries. 7 of the preparations were also assayed for vitamin E. The milks varied widely in their B-vitamin composition. The content of riboflavin ranged from 2·8 to 11·2 μg/g, thiamin from 2·8 to 13·0, vitamin B₆ from 1·5 to 12·7, and folate from 0·03 to 1·12.

Compared on a basis of equal solids content, all the preparations were considerably richer than mature human milk in thiamin and vitamin B₆, and most were similar to human milk in their content of riboflavin, though a few were markedly higher. With folate the findings were less reassuring. In 3 of the products the content was close to that in goat's milk, which may cause folate-deficiency anaemia in infants. In a further 8 the content was less than 60% of that in human milk.

The 7 products tested showed marked differences in vitamin E content. In 4, which contained cow's milk fat only, the vitamin E content was 0·70-0·83 mg α-tocopherol equivalents/100 g as against 2·33 mg/100 g solids in human milk. The remaining 3 products contained vegetable oils and were considerably richer, with 4·77-10·21 mg/100 g.