A reporter from Southern Metropolis Daily learned from the recently held Technology Forum on the Needs for Infant and Toddler Healthy Growth that a special scientific research project funded by the Beijing Municipal Natural Science Foundation will be launched within the year, with a funding of 1 million yuan, and is expected to develop milk powder suitable for the physical constitution of Chinese people.

Nowadays, Chinese people are relatively dependent on foreign brand infant milk powder. However, foreign brand milk powder is more expensive. More importantly, foreign brand milk powder, especially infant milk powder, is developed based on the physical constitution of people in their own countries and is not completely suitable for Chinese people. At the above-mentioned Science and Technology Forum on the Needs for Infant and Toddler Healthy Growth, experts revealed that currently, China still has gaps in research on Chinese people’s breast milk, standards for infant and toddler complementary food addition, testing and evaluation of ingredients in infant and toddler formula milk, and other aspects. The special scientific research project on nutritional needs for infant and toddler healthy growth funded by the Beijing Municipal Natural Science Foundation Committee is expected to make breakthroughs in the above aspects.

Nowadays, Chinese people are relatively dependent on foreign brand infant milk powder. However, foreign brand milk powder is more expensive. More importantly, foreign brand milk powder, especially infant milk powder, is developed based on the physical constitution of people in their own countries and is not completely suitable for Chinese people. At the above-mentioned Science and Technology Forum on the Needs for Infant and Toddler Healthy Growth, experts revealed that currently, China still has gaps in research on Chinese people’s breast milk, standards for infant and toddler complementary food addition, testing and evaluation of ingredients in infant and toddler formula milk, and other aspects. The special scientific research project on nutritional needs for infant and toddler healthy growth funded by the Beijing Municipal Natural Science Foundation Committee is expected to make breakthroughs in the above aspects.

Yang Yuexin, President of the Chinese Nutrition Society, pointed out that at present, there is no scientific and systematic research specifically on Chinese people’s breast milk in China, and relevant scientific data are lacking. When needed, data from foreigners are used for reference. Due to the lack of data support on breast milk, there are no standards for the amount of complementary food added to infants and young children based on the physical constitution of Chinese people.

Yang Yuexin pointed out that because we don’t know exactly what nutrients can be obtained from breast milk, we don’t know what nutrients to supplement, and thus we can’t develop formula milk powder tailored to the physical constitution of the Chinese people. In addition, China still lags behind foreign countries in terms of ingredient testing technology and evaluation systems for formula milk powder.