Four German inventors have proposed that baby food be made slightly harder to digest to more closely match the characteristics of breastmilk. They secured US patent 6190724 20 February. The initial applications were filed in Germany in 1995.

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US Secretary of Agriculture and University of California are the only others active in this technology.


Abstract:



    A protein composition and a baby food (infant formula) containing this are provided. The protein composition is characterised in that it contains at least 15 wt % (based on the total amount of the proteins) modified proteins, the course of whose digestion is slowed compared to the unmodified, normal proteins serving as starting materials. Such a protein composition and a baby food containing this create just as good metabolic conditions for the normal development of a child as feeding with human milk proteins.

First of 10 Claims:

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An infant milk formula which contains a protein composition wherein said protein composition comprises modified proteins in an amount of at least 15-weight % based upon the total weight of proteins in the composition, wherein said modified proteins are obtained by modifying starting proteins selected from the group consisting of bovine proteins, whey proteins, individual proteins of whey proteins, soya proteins or mixtures of one or more of said starting proteins, said modified proteins being modified by polymerization of the starting proteins, by crosslinking the starting proteins or by attachment of sugar chains to the protein chain of the starting proteins in such a way that the digestion of the modified proteins by an infant is slowed down relative to the starting proteins from which they are obtained.


By Navroz Havewala, just-food.com correspondent

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