INFACT Canada calls for full recall of Mead Johnson’s sub-standard products
The FDA recall of Mead Johnson’s Alactagrow and Sustagen has caught the attention of the world. INFACT (Infant Feeding Action Coalition) Canada, a national non-governmental organization that works to protect infant and young child health as well as maternal well-being through the promotion and support of breastfeeding and optimal infant feeding practices, has called for the swift implementation of the order.
In a letter to FDA Acting Director Nazarita Tacandaong, INFACT Canada stated that Mead Johnson committed “deception and misinterpretation of the label”.
According to the organization, the failure of Alactagrow and Sustagen to provide the content of 3 to 6 g. per 100kcal as set by FDA regulations and the Codex STAN 156-1987 for milk supplements, potentially puts older infants and young children at serious risk for undernutrition related to insufficient fat intake.
Fats in the diet of older infants and young children are critical because they are essential for brain and neurological development. Brain and neural growth remains rapid during the second year of life. As well, fats have 2.5 times the energy density of carbohydrates and proteins and therefore are critical to providing adequate energy for growth.
Alactagrow for instance has no added fats; hence the only fats present are those from the whole milk powder, which as the 4th listed ingredient, after skim milk powder (no fat) and corn syrup solids and sucrose, is likely to be minimal. Indeed the total fat content as determined by the FDA is a mere 1.34g. per 100 kcal.
Mead Johnson’s product is nothing more but a “fat reduced milk powder, with sugar, fortified with minerals and vitamins – an expensive product that is deficient in the essential level of fat required by older infants and young children.”
