Pre-biotics are used in infant formula primarily because they are also present in breast milk. Infants who need the supplemented diet of formula have symptoms like lower stool pH, better stool consistency and frequency, along a higher concentration of bifidobacteria present in their intestines. In contrast with infants who are on a non-supplemented standard formula.
A recent study has taken a step forward in this regard and demonstrated that prebiotic enrichment of infant formula milk plus Beneo’s OraftiSynergy1 (oligofructose-enriched inulin) reduced infections’ time period in the first year of a baby’s life. The research is a great contribution to the Prebiotics for Infant Formula Market as, for the first time, it has been put forth that formula enriched with OraftiSynergy1 can reduce the duration of infections which is amazing news for both babies and their parents.
The study was a randomized, double-blind, and placebo-controlled study was done over several sites and included 160 healthy term infants. The children were all aged younger than four months and were kept on an exclusive formula diet at the starting of the study. The infants were divided according to two formulas wherein one had 0.8 g/100 mL of Beneo’s OraftiSynergy1 (a chicory root-derived prebiotic), and the other had an unsupplemented control formula. The diet was kept constant till the kids reached the age of 12 months old.
They discovered that both the formulas were well-tolerated and secure. However, they also noticed that babies that took the infant formula consisting of Beneo’s prebiotic have less duration of infection episodes than the control group. Furthermore, the total daily crying of the infants getting the prebiotic formula was lower along with their stool which was softer across all 12-month periods.
The findings of the study are particularly interesting as they will help reducing infections in infants, something which troubling both for family members as well as medical personnel. Now, with correct ingredients, formulas can be improved through prebiotic oligofructose-enriched inulin and so can be thought to be very close to the gold standard of breastfeeding.
The research is another big step towards the increasingly growing evidence that prebiotics has positive effects on a baby’s gut microbiota interlinked with their inner defense system. In this regard, healthy colonization of the gut microbiota together with advantageous bacteria can have a great impact on the immune system. OraftiSynergy1 feeds Bifidobacteria in the gut, thus positively influencing the microbiota. Breast-fed babies’ microbiota has traits like a high count of Bifidobacteria. Beneo, through this study, claimed that through the intake of prebiotic enrichment of infant formula, infants could gain a stronger improved stool consistency, inner defense system, and other benefits.