Topic summary: Recently, the Ministry of Health made it clear that“ Bovine colostrum and dairy products made from bovine colostrum shall not be added to infant formula ”, and set from now to September 1, 2012 As a transitional period, the qualified products during this period can continue to be sold within the warranty period.
Bovine colostrum, once known as the "King of Immunity in the 21st Century", "rich in multiple nutrients, enhance immunity, improve gastrointestinal tract, and promote growth and development", has officially bid farewell to the field of infant formula food after ups and downs of praise and controversy.

[Bovine colostrum is banned from baby food, "King of Immunization" is out in September]

Bovine colostrum is not an essential food for infants

What is colostrum?

Colostrum is the milk of cows within 7 days after giving birth. Natural bovine colostrum is rich in protein, carbohydrate, fat, vitamins and minerals.
Bovine colostrum is neither a traditional food nor an essential food for infants. At present, bovine colostrum is not included in the infant formula food standards and related standards. It is also not allowed internationally to add bovine colostrum to infant formula. China has adopted a strict safety assessment system for the raw materials of infant formula food, which can only be used after being listed in the relevant standards of infant formula food.

What's wrong with colostrum?

Disputed positioning
If we only regard bovine colostrum as a kind of health food for the weak and sickly, it is understandable, and it does have some effect. However, many businesses advertise that bovine colostrum can promote the growth and development of infants and enhance their resistance and add it to infant formula, which has been widely controversial since the beginning.
Nutritional composition is unfavorable for infant development
The nutritional composition of bovine colostrum is different from that of ordinary milk, especially the content of lactose, protein and fat is unbalanced. For newborn infants, the physiological functions such as digestion and absorption are not yet fully developed. Premature intake of more nutrients may cause great digestive burden on the liver and kidneys, but may cause uncertain harm to the healthy development of infants. Moreover, the nutrition of bovine colostrum is extremely unbalanced. It does not contain calcium, phosphorus and other nutrients needed by infants, but only contains high levels of immunoglobulin and growth factors. Such nutritional composition is not conducive to the growth of infants.
Unstable quality
Bovine colostrum belongs to physiologically abnormal milk. Its physical properties and components are very different from those of normal milk. Its production is low, industrial collection is difficult, and its quality is unstable, so it is not suitable for processing infant formula.
Excessive hormone
In addition, various hormones contained in bovine colostrum have also become the "culprit" of all previous bovine colostrum events. For example, the widespread sexual precocious event caused by bovine colostrum not long ago directly pointed to the excessive content of bovine colostrum hormones.

It is misleading to boast that colostrum is closest to breast milk More>>

Is Colostrum Suitable for Infants?

　　 Bovine colostrum is not suitable for infants, especially children of 0-6 months old. The acidity of bovine colostrum is too high, the proportion of whey protein to casein is not appropriate, and the content of protein in colostrum is too high, which are not suitable for infants. Compared with human milk, bovine colostrum contains incomplete nutrition, lacks a variety of nutrients, and the proportion of casein in the protein is too high for infants to digest, which can also cause allergies.
At present, the research on bovine colostrum in the scientific community is not enough, and many problems have not been clarified. There are basically no scientific and reliable experiments - especially human experimental data, and it is not allowed to do experiments with newborn babies. Most of the information about bovine colostrum is just "ideas" in the mind. In this case, adults can drink, and infants should be treated with caution.

Breast milk vs bovine colostrum?

　　 Experts believe that the use of bovine colostrum as a nutrient to feed infants should be strictly prohibited. Compared with human milk, bovine colostrum contains incomplete nutrition, lacks a variety of nutrients, and the proportion of casein in the protein is too high for infants to digest, which can also cause allergies.
"The best food for infants is breast milk. It is extremely important for a child to eat milk in the first few days after birth. If the baby is fed with colostrum, so that the baby can not get the nutrition they need for normal growth in time, it will lead to malnutrition of the baby, and in serious cases, it will become the commonly known" big head doll "." Chairman of the Children's Health Professional Committee of the Chinese Medical Doctor Association Leader of Child Health Care Group of Chinese Academy of Pediatrics, Vice Chairman of Chinese Academy of Child Health Ding Zongyi Professor said.

Is drinking bovine colostrum helpful for young children?

In fact, in recent 10 years, especially in recent years, a large number of clinical phenomena in many children's hospitals in China have shown that after taking bovine colostrum in the early stage, children are indeed taller, stronger, and whiter than their peers before they are five or six years old. But when babies officially enter the normal development stage, they do not grow taller, but turn to horizontal development, giving birth to many not high super fat people, Some children even stopped growing when they were 12-15 years old, which can be described as "pulling out the seedlings" and "overdraft in advance".

"Prohibit adding" bovine colostrum: because there is no unified standard

Prohibition basis

There are few scientific studies on the impact of long-term consumption of bovine colostrum on infant health at home and abroad, and there is a lack of safety data on bovine colostrum as raw material of infant formula food.
Bovine colostrum has not yet been included in the infant formula food standards and related standards. It is also not allowed internationally to add bovine colostrum to infant formula.

How do foreign countries view bovine colostrum?

In New Zealand, dietary supplements added with bovine colostrum shall not be used for infants aged 0~6 months. It is clearly stated on the product package that bovine colostrum is not suitable for people under three years of age. If you are over three years old and have special reasons (e.g. dwarf, congenital disease), you must consult a professional doctor before eating. Australia manages bovine colostrum as a supplementary drug.

Nutrients in bovine colostrum: not necessarily suitable for infants

Immunoglobulin: How many active ingredients are there?

It is reported that the immunoglobulin of bovine colostrum is up to 50~150 mg/mL, 50 times that of human colostrum. It really helps to improve the immunity of human body, resist the invasion of virus and inflammation, so it is publicized by manufacturers as "eating can reduce illness".
However, in fact, bovine colostrum has to undergo special processing before it is made into qualified products. During this process, its immunoglobulin activity will be destroyed. Once its activity is lost, it will be no different from ordinary proteins. For infants, especially those who are only artificially fed, if the immunoglobulin separated from bovine colostrum is added, it can increase the intestinal resistance of infants and help prevent infant diarrhea. However, if bovine colostrum powder or freeze-dried powder is directly added, the results may not be better.

Calcium: more will increase the burden

In the study of a certain dairy cow in Xinjiang, relevant personnel found that the calcium content in colostrum of healthy dairy cows was up to 150~186mg/100g within 2~120h after calving, while the calcium content in bovine normal milk was down to 110mg/100g; The calcium content of human colostrum is generally 1/4 of that of cattle, but it can fully meet the needs of infants. If it is excessive, it will increase the burden of the baby's gastrointestinal tract and kidneys.

Nerve growth factor: content is not enemy colostrum

The content of bovine colostrum is 69.82mg/l, which is lower than 110.37mg/l of bovine colostrum, and much lower than 300.47mg/l of human colostrum. In terms of promoting the neural development of babies, its role is far less than that of human colostrum or even bovine colostrum.

Protein: casein is difficult to digest

The main protein of human milk is whey protein, followed by casein. The ratio of whey protein to casein is about 8:2; The proportion of milk protein is just the opposite, and the proportion of whey protein to casein is about 2:8. The proportion of whey protein is high, which can form a relatively soft curd in the stomach. On the contrary, the proportion of casein is too high, which is easy to form clots when encountering stomach acid in the stomach, which is not conducive to digestion and absorption of the baby.

Insulin like growth factor: can treat diabetes

The content of bovine colostrum is higher than that of human colostrum and bovine regular milk. Because of its insulin like effect, it has a good therapeutic effect on diabetes and complications, but too much of it may not be beneficial to the normal development of infants.