Why Testing of Follow-up Formula & Complementary Foods is Needed?

Follow-up Formula – Complementary Foods are intended for infants and children preferably below the age of 2 years. Follow-up Formula Complementary Foods-IS 15757: 2007 has also been mentioned in the list of mandatory ISI Certification Scheme which implies that the product has to be tested in a laboratory. At SRD Pharma, we provide services that include testing of Follow-up Formula Complementary Foods. The testing must be done based on the required parameters which will ensure that your product is in compliance with the Indian Standard.

Follow-up Formula – Complementary foods must be approved in a recognized lab. Why?

As we know, Follow-up Formula – Complementary Foods are meant to be consumed by infants. Follow-up Formula Complementary Foods cannot be sold in India without the ISI mark. This certification is required for approval of the formulation and overall quality of the product.

The term “follow-up formula” is defined as a food that is meant to use as a liquid part of the weaning diet for infants and young children. These have to be tested and some important testing specifications have been mentioned below:

• The follow-up formula has to be tested for scorched particles.
• Tests to make sure that the product is free of additives like starch and artificial flavors, etc.
• Sensory testing for odor and taste.
• Some microbiological tests to check the bacterial count.
• Heavy Metal testing for lead, arsenic, tin and cadmium must be done every month.
• To check if the requirements of essential Vitamins, Phosphorous, Zinc, Iodine, Copper, etc. are being met. This has to be tested once every year.

Follow-up Formula – Complementary Foods requires a lot of tests to check the nutrients and their availability for healthy growth of children. Tests to check the content of vitamin A and C, iron, magnesium and calcium must be done once a month. In a scenario where tests indicate that nutrient content is not as per standards, then the product will be ISI marked. All the deficiencies must be reprocessed for the product to be ISI marked. Some of the tests are also conducted to check if permitted essential amino acids are present in the Follow-up formula or not.

Testing of these products ensure that certain parameters are followed strictly. Some of these are mentioned below.

• Moisture content
• Total ash
• Protein content
• Total Fat
• Total milk protein
• Acid insoluble ash
• Linoleic acid
• Solubility

Reasons Why Testing Follow-up Formula – Complementary foods is crucial

These tests for Follow-up formula – Complementary Foods are essential to check if the content of micro-nutrients such as iron, zinc, vitamins, etc. is adequate for good growth and development of children at such an early stage of their life. One of the most important reasons to test these products is to prevent malnutrition in kids. Microbiological testing is also of utmost importance as during such as an early phase children often get affected with stomach infections like diarrhea and any type of contamination in follow-up formulas could aggravate the problem of these types of illnesses.