News

Advanced Lipid promotes INFAT OPO

15 Mar 2016

Infant formula companies who include INFAT OPO in their products can now use a compelling and scientifically-proven ‘Super Comfort’ marketing proposition in association with their brands, according to the product’s manufacturer Advanced Lipids.

Infant formula companies who include Advanced Lipid’s INFAT OPO in their products can now use a compelling and scientifically-proven ‘Super Comfort’ marketing proposition in association with their brands, according to the product’s manufacturer Advanced Lipids.

A series of clinical trials is said to have demonstrated that INFAT OPO offers four separate benefits associated with baby’s comfort. This includes new preliminary evidence that infants fed with formula containing INFAT OPO sleep for longer over the course of 24 hours and also during the night.

In total, the company says, this means INFAT OPO has now been demonstrated to offer seven benefits, all of which are scientifically supported.

Four of these beneficial health effects are in the area of comfort, as follows:

+ Night sleep (the new 7th benefit) – A double-blind randomized controlled study involving 159 healthy term infants showed that infants fed formula containing INFAT tend to enjoy more sleep at 6 weeks and 12 weeks than babies fed with control formula

+ Less crying – INFAT is clinically proven to reduce crying time by up to 75% in healthy term babies – mainly in the late afternoon and evening – during the first weeks of their lives

+ Gut comfort – babies fed with formula containing INFAT enjoy similar levels of beneficial gut bacteria to those found in breast-fed babies, promoting a healthy digestion and immune system

+ Softer stools – INFAT promotes softer stools and in doing so reduces incidences of hard stools by as much as 50% compared with control formula

In addition to significantly greater levels of comfort, INFAT is claimed to optimise the uptake of calcium, fat and energy. It has also been shown that bone strength in babies fed with INFAT is similar to that found in breast-fed babies. Finally, bringing the list of benefits to seven, INFAT has been shown to have a protective effect against gut inflammation, thereby enhancing gut health.

INFAT OPO as an infant formula ingredient is said to be unique in that it is a single ingredient that has been demonstrated to offer four comfort related benefits – something no other ingredient on the market can match. This means, says Advanced Lipids, that formula manufacturers can now market their products with a ‘Super Comfort’ positioning that will appeal to parents all over the world.

“Baby’s comfort is a high priority for parents of young babies, since it impacts on the whole family,” said Avner Avissara, CEO of Advanced Lipids. “An uncomfortable infant cries more and sleeps less – leading to stress and tiredness for parents. This means formula that promises increased comfort is an appealing proposition that resonates with mothers when they shop the baby aisle in-store. With INFAT OPO, formula manufacturers can now use the Super-Comfort positioning to stand out on-shelf and gain a significant edge on their competitors.”

With INFAT OPO, Advanced Lipids believes it is now possible to create a formula with a fat composition that is closer than ever to breast milk in terms of structure and benefits. Breast milk is always best for baby, the company notes, but when it isn’t possible to breast-feed, formula made with INFAT OPO is claimed to offer the next best solution, so parents can be confident they are giving their child a great start in life through optimum nutrition.

INFAT OPO is an SN2 palmitate fat ingredient that when added as the fat component to infant formula mimics the composition and properties of human milk fat.

Produced in Europe using a patented enzymatic process, INFAT delivers structured triglycerides with a high level of palmitic acid in the mid position of the triglyceride for optimal infant development and wellbeing. It is manufactured in production facilities operated by AAK.