Citation

Labiner-Wolfe J, Fein SB, Shealy KR. Pediatrics 2008; 122(Suppl 2): S85-90.

Affiliation

Food and Drug Administration, Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, 5100 Paint Branch Pkwy, HFS 020, College Park, MD 20740, USA. judy.labiner@fda.hhs.gov

Copyright

(Copyright © 2008, American Academy of Pediatrics)

DOI

10.1542/peds.2008-1315k

PMID

18829836

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: Our goal was to assess the extent to which mothers learn about proper handling of infant formula from health professionals and package labels; mothers' beliefs about the likelihood of germs being in infant formula and the importance of following safe-use directions; whether they take measures while handling infant formula to prevent foodborne illnesses and injury to their infants; and maternal characteristics associated with unsafe infant formula-handling practices. PARTICIPANTS AND METHODS: The study cohort consisted of mothers participating in the 2005-2007 Infant Feeding Practices Study II who fed their infant formula. We conducted frequency and multiple logistic regression analyses. Sample sizes for the analyses ranged from 860 to 1533. RESULTS: The majority of formula-feeding mothers did not receive instruction on formula preparation (77%) or storage (73%) from a health professional. Thirty percent did not read some of the safe-use directions on the formula package label; an approximately equal percentage (38%) thought that both powdered (which is not sterile) and ready-to-feed (which is sterile) formula were unlikely to contain germs; and 85% believed that following safe-storage directions was very important. Among the mothers of the youngest infants analyzed, 55% did not always wash their hands with soap before preparing infant formula, 32% did not adequately wash bottle nipples between uses, 35% heated formula bottles in a microwave oven, and 6% did not always discard formula left standing for>2 hours. The prevalence of these unsafe practices was similar among mothers of older infants. No consistent pattern of maternal characteristics was associated with unsafe practices. CONCLUSIONS: Many mothers do not follow safe practices when preparing infant formula. Additional research is needed to understand why more mothers do not follow safe formula-handling recommendations.

Language: en