Levels of Some Nutrients in Cow's Whole Milk and Commercial Infant formulas Distributed in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
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Date
2005-06
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
Three brands of infant fonnulas (n = 3) and 618 cow's whole milk samples from four different
famls, which supply milk to Addis Ababa, were analyzed for various essential (Ca, Mg Fe, and
Zn) and non-essential (Cd, Ni, Pb, and TI) nutrients, fat and protein levels. Known weights of
powdered infant fonnulas or freeze dried cow's whole milk samples were digested with 3.5 mL
HNO) and 2.0 mL HeIO" on a hot plate for 4:30 h. The contents of nutri ents in the digests were
then analyzed employing standard methods. The fo llowing mean levels were recorded in cow's
whole milk: Ca (mglL) 1600; Mg (mglL) 65; Fe (mglL) 1.25; Zn (mglL) 5.33; Cd (mglL) 0. 18;
Ni (mglL) 1.27; Pb (mglL) 2.63; TI (mglL) 2.15; rat 3.7% (111/m); protein 3.2% (m/m). The data
for the mineral concentrations in cow's whole mi lk were found within normal interva ls described
in the literature. The three infant fomlUla brands analyzed in this study generally showed low
nu tri tional contents when compared with the recommended dietary allowances (RDA) for usc in
North America. The observed values of the ana lyzed non-essenti al elements were below the
drinking water maximum admissible concentrat ions for the infa nt fomlU las. However,
significantly higher concentrations of these clements were observed in the cow's whole milk. An
important contribution to the daily intake of calcium for Addis Ababa population due to the
consumption of cow's whole milk was observed. The accuracy of ana lyl ical results was checked
by analyzing the NIST reference material SRM 8435 (whole milk powder) and good agreement
was achieved with certi fi ed values.
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Keywords
Milk, infant fomlUl a, nutrients, non-essential elements, flame atomic absorption spectroscopy, Ethiopia