Diet and faecal flora in the newborn: casein and whey proteins

Despite the extensive modifications of cows' milk to make an infant formula resemble human breast milk, we showed in a previous study that the faecal flora of breast fed babies still differs substantially from that of formula fed babies. This paper describes the effects that differences in the distribution of whey proteins and caseins exert on the faecal flora. Faecal flora was examined in 33 babies receiving a whey formula, 29 babies receiving a casein formula, and 38 breast fed babies. Subsequently fewer babies in each group were studied at weeks 7, 11, and 15. More whey fed babies were colonised with bifidobacteria at 14 days compared with the casein fed group, more casein fed babies were colonised with bacteroides (at 14 days), and more had a dominant growth of enterococci (at week 7). It seems therefore that during the first two months that the whey predominant formula induced a faecal flora generally closer to that of breast fed babies than did a casein formula.