New ingredients in infant formula. Health and functional benefits

There is an increasing body of evidence about the effect that early nutrition and lifestyle could have on the programming of later health and disease. Infant formula must cover all the nutritional needs to promote adequate infant growth and development. Currently, important research efforts have been made to supplement infant formulae with new bioactive ingredients with health benefits for the infant. The milk fat globule membrane is one of the new ingredients, which provides phospholipids and gangliosides, as well as bioactive proteins. In addition, ingredients such as probiotics and prebiotics modulate intestinal microbiota and contribute to improve gastrointestinal health. Other ingredients relevant in infant formulas are long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids, α-lactalbumin and nucleotides. Recent research studies have demonstrated that adding these ingredients to infant formulas improves cognitive development and decreases the number of infections and allergies in infants. However, more studies are needed to find if these effects are long lasting and can be seen in childhood and adulthood.