Analysis of vitamin content in products intended for infants and children on the Serbian market

Abstract

Infant formula and follow-on formula, baby food and food supplements are important sources of essential nutrients for infants and young children. It is therefore important to monitor the nutrient content of these products. The content of vitamins A, D, E, C and B group was determined in 121 samples (44 samples of infant and follow-on formulas, baby foods, foods for special medical purposes and 77 of food supplements for children. High Performance Liquid Chromatography with Fluorescence and Diode Array Detector (HPLC-FLD-DAD) methods, were used for analysis. Among these samples, almost every third sample was outside of the defined tolerance range. The biggest deviations were found for vitamins A and E. The obtained values in foods for infants and young children for vitamins A and E was 17–147 % and 24–140 % of the declared value, respectively, whereas for food supplements, they were 5–150 % and 52–205 %, respectively. The highest values for vitamin E were in instant drinks (80–203 % of the declared value). The content of vitamins D and B2 in food supplements in liquid form was 10–127 % and 11–110 % of the declared value, respectively. Considering that these foods are often the only source of essential nutrients for infants and children, these results show the need for regular monitoring of the composition of these products.