DuPont Nutrition & Health welcomes U.S. clearance of CARE4U™ 2´-fucosyllactose (2’-FL), a human milk oligosaccharide (HMO) that can help narrow the nutritional gap between breast milk and formula. The positive response by U.S. Food and Drug Administration to DuPont’s GRAS notice means infant formula manufacturers can confidently use CARE4U™ 2’-FL in infant and toddler formulas to mimic some of the health-promoting benefits of the HMOs naturally present in human milk. CARE4U™ 2´-FL HMO gained EU approval as a novel food from the beginning of 2018.
Health Benefits Beyond Infant Nutrition include Digestive, Immune and Cognitive Development
After lactose and lipids, HMOs are the third-most-abundant solid component of human milk. Today, there is considerable evidence that HMOs in human milk support digestive, immune and cognitive development by modifying the gut microbiota.
Research indicates that use of DuPont’s commercial ingredient CARE4U™ 2’FL HMO can bring some of the same health benefits to infant formula.
“Human milk remains the best option for nourishing infants, but not all mothers are able to breast-feed their babies. In such cases, it is essential that infant formula is a close second-best. CARE4U™ 2’FL HMO can help narrow the gap between human milk and infant formula,” said Steen Lyck, global business director for HMO, DuPont Nutrition & Health.
Purest Commercial HMO on the Market
CARE4U™ 2’FL HMO contains more than 98 percent 2’-fucosyllactose, the most abundant of the more than 130 oligosaccharides in human milk making it the purest HMO product on the market today.
“We have developed CARE4U™ 2’-FL in collaboration with our partner Inbiose, who developed the ingredient by microbial fermentation, a process that DuPont has since improved and commercialized. Superior powder properties (high purity and density), make it easy to use in formulations,” Lyck adds.
DuPont Scientists Share HMO Findings at Key Conferences
Following decades of R&D experience in proteins, fibers and probiotics, DuPont is a recognized knowledge leader in infant nutrition ingredients. One of the recent developments by the DuPont scientific team is an infant gut simulator model for researching HMO fermentation.
DuPont scientists Johanna Hirvonen and Krista Salli presented their work at the European Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition (ESPGHAN) in Geneva May 2018, where HMO science was in focus.
In addition to the infant gut simulator model, other HMO findings demonstrating the specificity of 2`-FL as an energy source were presented to an international audience of more than 250 scientists and practitioners.
The following week at Vitafoods Europe in Geneva, Steen Lyck explained the commercial relevance of HMO in infant nutrition and dietary supplements, describing the recent U.S. and EU regulatory clearance status to a packed audience at the Life Stages Theatre.
“HMOs are important bioactives that promote and maintain health from birth through early life. Both academic and industry conferences enabled DuPont to highlight the scientific research demonstrating that these health benefits may extend beyond infancy through nutrition in adult life. DuPont is now uncovering ways to use HMO health benefits in dietary supplements,” said Ratna Mukherjea, Ph.D., technical fellow, Technology & Innovation Leader – HMO, DuPont Nutrition & Health.