Study finds formula & follow on contain aluminium - which brands are worst?

Firstly let me clarify this is NOT an anti-formula post!  It's to raise awareness of this contamination issue, because if I were using it I would be campaigning like crazy to stop manufacturers completely ignoring this significant health risk and take action!  I also hope the data allows parents to select brands shown to have a lower concentration of contamination.

A study published in BMC Paediatrics, August 2010 - found formula can contain upto 40 times the level of aluminium found in breastmilk; which is 16 times that allowed legally in water.

A team from Keele Uni in Staffordshire tested 15 ready-made & powdered formula milks for aluminium.

"In both types of milk, levels were still unacceptably high.  Recent research demonstrating the vulnerability of infants to early exposure to aluminium serves to highlight an urgent need to reduce the aluminium content of infant formulas to as low a level as is practically possible.  Previous research strongly suggests aluminium could cause some toxicity in premature babies with illnesses such kidney disease; In a healthy baby you wouldn't see any symptoms or problems but there is concern that it can accumulate & cause issues in later years.  It has been linked to neurological diseases and bone defects in later life and there are even links with dementia. Everyone has aluminium in their bodies but infants are especially prone to absorbing it and are not so good at getting rid of it"

Dr. Chris Exley

What's perhaps most worrying about this study is that the highest levels of all were found in a milk designed for the most vulnerable; Cow & Gate Nutriprem, a specialised breastmilk substitute for premature babies, topped the list of liquid formulas by a significant amount.  The worst offenders for liquid formula after Nutriprem were Cow & Gate First Infant Milk, Cow & Gate Follow-On Milk & Growing Up Milk and Aptamil Follow-On Milk.  In general though the aluminium content of formulas prepared from powdered milks were significantly higher than ready-made milks (with the exception of Nutriprem) with the worst powders being Sma Wysoy Soya, Aptamil Follow-On Milk, Hipp Organic Follow-On Milk (dya think that will be organic aluminium ? ;)) and Cow & Gate Follow-On Milk.  So all in all Cow & Gate didn't fare too well!

As all manufacturers insist that aluminium is not knowingly added to their products, the suggestion is that these products are 'contaminated' with aluminium. The likelihood is that many of the individual constituents of the formulas are contaminated, which may include equipment used in both processing and storing of bulk products. In addition many of the formulas were packaged for sale using aluminium-based materials!

What makes me most cross about the study is it also states:

There has been a long and significant history documenting the contamination of infant formulas by aluminium and consequent health effects in children. Manufacturers of infant formulas have been made fully aware of the potentially compounded issue of both the contamination by aluminium and the heightened vulnerability, from the point of view of a newborn's developing physiology, of infants fed such formulas. There have been similar warnings over several decades in relation to aluminium toxicity and parenteral nutrition of preterm and term infants. To these ends the expectation would be that the aluminium content of current infant formulas would at the very least be historically low and at best would be as low as might be achieved for a processed product

The aluminium content of infant formulas measured herein are not significantly different to historical values and this lack of improvement in lowering their content suggests either that the manufacturers are not monitoring the aluminium content of their products or that the manufacturers are not concerned at these levels of contamination.

It is clear that aluminium in infant formulas is a significant component of early life exposure to this ubiquitous contaminant and as such every effort should be made by manufacturers to reduce the aluminium content of these products to an achievable practical minimum while at the same time manufacturers should be compelled to indicate the level of contamination by aluminium on the packaged product.  Aluminium is non-essential and is linked to human disease.

This link is another compelling reason why mothers should not use fluoridated water to make up formula powder (a topic I plan to blog about soon!).  There is evidence Fluoride in Drinking Water Increases Toxicity of Aluminum - with potentially fatal consequences.   As liquid formula contained generally lower levels, where possible this may be the safer option.
 
I hope those pro-formula or using it, DO something to force manufacturers to address this issue.  Write, email, petition, campaign!  It's not just for the lactivists ;)

The aluminium content of milk powders (P) used in formulas.
Commercial Name of Product N = 5	[Al] μg/g Mean (SD)	[Al] μg/g Range	[Al] μg/L*
Sma Wysoy Soya Infant Formula	4.3 (1.0)	3.7-6.0	629.0
Sma First Infant Milk	2.4 (1.4)	1.3-4.6	333.3
Hipp Organic Follow-On Milk	3.6 (1.6)	2.1-6.3	500.0
Hipp Organic Good Night Milk	2.9 (1.5)	1.7-5.5	406.0
Cow & Gate First Infant Milk	2.8 (0.6)	1.8-3.5	424.0
Hipp Organic First Infant Milk	2.7 (1.3)	0.2-4.2	394.4
Aptamil Follow-On Milk	3.1 (0.5)	2.3-3.8	592.4
Cow & Gate Follow-On Milk	2.5 (3.4)	1.7-10.8	477.8
*Based upon manufacturer's instructions for preparing the milk.
Burrell and Exley BMC Pediatrics 2010 10:63   doi:10.1186/1471-2431-10-63

The aluminium content of ready-made (RM) milk infant formulas.
Commercial Name of Product N = 5	[Al] μg/L Mean (SD)	[Al] μg/L Range
Sma First Infant Milk	267.9 (40.9)	210.1-322.5
Sma Follow-On Milk	245.8 (59.0)	174.5-309.8
Cow & Gate First Infant Milk	338.8 (34.8)	293.0-371.0
Hipp Organic Growing-Up Milk	175.5 (34.7)	131.4-236.8
Aptamil Follow-On Milk	296.1 (13.9)	279.3-314.2
Cow & Gate Follow-On Milk	303.7 (10.8)	285.3-316.8
Cow & Gate Growing-Up Milk	430.0 (214.8)	285.3-856.5
Cow & Gate Nutriprem 1	700.4 (93.6)	602.5-863.0
Burrell and Exley BMC Pediatrics 2010 10:63   doi:10.1186/1471-2431-10-63