[Does the hydrolysis of proteins change the acceptability and the digestive tolerance of milk for infants? The results of a comparative and randomized prospective study]

Abstract

A prospective randomized study of growth and digestive tolerance in a cohort of 60 healthy infants with no history for allergic disease is reported. A milk-based formula and a formula of identical composition whose proteins had undergone hydrolysis were fed successively to the study infants according to a crossover design, for eight weeks. Intake, weight gain and length gain were comparable and satisfactory with both diets. With the hydrolyzed protein formula, stools were greener in color and significantly more numerous, although both parameters remained within normal limits. The most noteworthy result was the significantly greater rate of regurgitations in the group given the hydrolyzed protein formula, i.e., 26% versus 8% in the group fed a conventional modified milk formula. These results show that use of partial protein hydrolysate formulas is associated with minor digestive adverse effects.