The Committees Approach

The committee recognizes that some of its recommendations could not be implemented under the current U.S. laws and may reqnire statntory changes. Even with this limitation, the committee encourages dialogue among members of government agencies, the public, industry, and academia to act on the recommendations set forth by this report in the best interest of our most vulnerable members of society—our infants. 

The committee focused on new potential ingredients and existing ingredient ratios that could be added to infant formulas to  

Several compounds have been seriously considered for addition to formulas, but no final decision has been made about their addition for a variety of reasons. For example, cholesterol is present in human milk at levels higher than is present in cow s milk. A recent article reported that breastfed infants had lower total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol in adulthood and suggested that infant formulas should have added cholesterol to more closely match that of human milk (Owen et ah, 2002). On the other hand, animal studies of formulas with added cholesterol found no evidence of any beneficial short- or long-term effects (LSRO, 1998). In addition, lysozyme and lactoferrin are also present in human milk at levels higher than in cow s milk. These factors may be important in growth or host defense and have been considered for addition to formulas (Lo and Kleinman, 1996). Many substances found in human milk have not been added to infant formulas, perhaps due to the lack of information on their function in human milk or their effect on the infant. 

The committee proposes a functional classification of potential target areas of ingredients new to infant formulas, as summarized in Table 1-2, according to potential targeted endpoints. The committee also considered the types of molecules or ingredients that could be considered as new additives, including  

However the committee did not simply consider molecules or new ingredients as isolated substances, it also considered three important characteristics (1) the compound itself 

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OSHA developed standards based on its perception of need at the request of other federal agencies, state and local governments, and labor organizations. It uses the committee approach for developing standards. Before any of these actions can be undertaken, OSHA must publish its intentions in the Federal Register. Once a standard has been passed, it becomes effective on the date prescribed. 

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