EFFECTS OF LONG-TERM CONSUMPTION OF A FERMENTED INFANT FORMULA ON ACUTE DIARRHOEA IN HEALTHY INFANTS

Abstract

ST01 STARTERS AND FERMENTED DAIRY PRODUCTS: IMPACT ON THE IMMUNE SYSTEM OF THE INFANT AND THE CHILD Satellite Symposium organized by DANONE Objective: to determine whether long-term consumption of a fermented infant formula could influence the incidence of acute diarrhoea and its severity in healthy infants. Method: 971 infants aged from 4 to 6 months were included in a randomised double-blind placebo controlled trial over a period of 5 months. They consumed daily either a fermented infant formula (FF) (fermentation with Bifidobacterium breve C50 and Streptococcus thermophilus 065) or a standard infant formula (SF) of the same nutritional composition. Evaluation criteria: Number and duration of acute diarrhoea episodes (DE); severity of the episodes, evaluated by number of hospital admissions, incidence of dehydration, number of medical consultations, number of oral re-hydration solution (ORS) prescriptions and number of formula switches. Results: Growth of the infants and acceptability of the formulas were identical in the 2 groups. Incidence, duration of diarrhoea episodes and number of hospital admissions did not differ significantly between groups. However, episodes were less severe in FF (fermented formula) group, as there were fewer cases of dehydration 2.5% versus 6.1% (p = 0.01), fewer medical consultations (46% vs 56.6%, p = 0.003), fewer ORS prescriptions 41.9% vs 51.9% (p = 0.003) and fewer switches to other formulas (59.5% vs 74.9%, p = 0.0001). Conclusion: These results provide some evidence that a fermented formula could reduce the severity of acute diarrhoea among healthy young infants. This outcome, could be linked to the bifidogenic effects of fermentation products, and their interactions with the intestinal immune system.