St. Louis, Missouri-based Beech-Nut Nutrition Corp. has launched the first baby food that contains two important fatty acids naturally found in breast milk, DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) and ARA (arachidonic acid).
Intended for babies age six months and older, the company says that First Advantage(TM) baby foods are a “nutritional breakthrough, because these nutrients are recognized by pediatric and nutrition experts worldwide as important building blocks of the central nervous system”.
Scott Meader, president and CEO, said: “This is a major event in Beech-Nut’s 70-year history. We are proud to introduce the first and only line of baby food with DHA.”
One of the many nutrients found in breast milk, DHA is important in the mental and visual development of babies and toddlers. As a building block of human brain tissue, the polyunsaturated fatty acid impacts signal transmission in the brain, eye and nervous system and is critical for embryonic and postnatal development. Beech-Nut food scientists have added at least 60 mg of DHA to each jar of food.
A joint Expert Committee on Human Nutrition organized by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) recommends DHA supplementation for infant formulas. DHA has been available in Europe in select full term and pre-term infant formulas since the early 1990s. DHA-enhanced formulas are available in more than 60 countries worldwide, and became available in the US in March of 2002.

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By GlobalDataThe American Academy of Pediatrics and the World Health Organization note the value of breast milk as a baby’s first food because of the nutrients, proteins and antibodies breast milk provides and recommends breastfeeding for a minimum of twelve months.