How is powdered infant formula or follow-on formula to be prepared?
The Food Authority has received enquiries on the correct and safe water temperature for preparing powdered infant formula.
Currently, the Food Authority recommends that the manufacturer’s instructions for healthy infants on the labelling are to be followed. The microbiological criteria for powdered formulas are set out in the EU legislation. The manufacturers of formulas have to regularly monitor for certain microbes causing disease in powdered infant formulas. The microbiological criteria are currently seen as a sufficient precaution and there is no need for using hotter water than recommended in the instructions on the labelling. The food safety authorities ensure that the manufacturers comply with the microbiological criteria.
The water is to be taken from the cold water tap, then boiled and cooled down to about 40 °C. Hot tap water is not to be used. The formula is to be given to the child after the mix has cooled down to lukewarm, or about 37 °C.
When the formula has been prepared in this way it is not sterile, but if the formula is prepared using hotter water than that, it would destroy potential lactic acid bacteria and vitamins that are easily broken down.
If the child has a weakened immune defence or another illness, the formula has to be prepared in accordance with the instructions given by health care personnel. The hospitals can take extra precautions and mix the powdered formula into hotter water than instructed on the label. Often a child that needs fully sterile nutrition is fed products intended specifically for infants (dietary foods for special medical purposes for infants) that are mixed commercially.
The World Health Organisation WHO and some countries recommend in their instructions that the powder is mixed into water that has been boiled and then cooled to 70 °C due to the potential bacteria in non-sterile powdered formula. The WHO guidelines cover the whole world, and not all countries have similar microbiological criteria for foodstuffs as the EU legislation.