Concentrations Of Selected Mineral Elements In Commercial Infant Formulae Marketed In Abeokuta, Ogun State

Abstract

Eight different brands of commercial infant formulae marketed in Abeokuta were analyzed for sodium, potassium, calcium and magnesium using a flame photometer. The analytical method subjected to a quality assurance test showed that a 0.25g sample weight give comparable results with a 1.00g sample weight.


The results obtained for the mineral elements ranged from 2.6 to 4.5 mg/g for Na, 4.1 to 8.4 mg/g for K, 1.8 to 6.2 mg/g for Ca and 0.2 to 0.8 mg/g, for Mg. In general the results showed that the formulae are good sources of Na, K and Ca but poor sources of Mg as obtained from the results with a range of 0.24mglg – 0.79mg/g. A comparison of these results to that of the manufacturer's levels showed statistical differences for the milk brands of Frisolac (for the metals Na, K, Ca and Mg.), Frisocrem ( for the metals, Na and Ca,) Cow and Gate ( for the metals Na, K, Ca ) and Similac ( for the metals Na, K, and Mg.) There were notable exceptions as for K and Ca in NAN and for K and Mg in SMA. A general trend of K > Ca > Na > Mg > was obtained for five of the brands.


[Global Jnl Environ Sci Vol.2(1) 2003: 17-22]