From birth to twelve months of age, babies need to be fed breast milk or formula. In a recent study, 56 percent of babies had problems caused by food (USDA 2002). Some of these problems dealt with food safety issues. Infants and young children are particularly vulnerable to food borne illnesses because their immune system is not developed enough to fight off infections. Understanding the proper storage and usage of formula may prevent food safety issues
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Cans
- Check the can of formula for the expiration date. If the expiration date has passed, throw the can out.
- Store unopened cans of infant formula in a cool, dry indoor place- not in a refrigerator or in vehicles, garages, or outdoors (cans may be exposed to water and temperature extremes which may rust the can or affect the quality of the formula).
- Use prepared (pre-mixed) cans of formula within 48 hours.
Bottles of formula
- Refrigerate prepared bottles until ready to use.
- Use refrigerated bottles within 48 hours from the time they were prepared.
- Store in the back of the cooler or refrigerator where it is coldest.
- Do not feed a baby a bottle left out of the refrigerator for 1 hour or longer.
- Do not freeze infant formula.
- Throw out any unused formula left in a bottle after a feeding.
- Do not reuse a bottle containing formula after the baby has fed from it (the mixture of formula with baby’s saliva promotes growth of disease-causing germs).
- Clean and sanitize bottles and their parts before reusing them
Following these simple steps will reduce the incidence of food borne illnesses in your infant. You and your infant will be happier for it.
Resources
Baby Food and Infant Formula, Foodsafety.gov, http://www.foodsafety.gov/keep/types/babyfood/, September 2011
Sara B. Fein, PhD, Grummer, L., Strawn, Tonse, Raju, MD, Infant Feeding and Care Practices in the United States: Results from the Infant Feeding Practices Study II, Pediatrics Journal, Vol. 122 Supplement pp. S25-S27 (doi:10.1542/peds.2008-1315b) October 2008
United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)-Food and Nutrition Service, Feeding Infants, A guide for Use in the Child Nutrition Programs (FNS-258), http://www.fns.usda.gov/tn/resources/feeding_infants.pdf, July 2002
United States Department of Health and Human Services, Infant Formula - Q&A, http://www.fda.gov/Food/FoodSafety/Product-SpecificInformation/InfantFo…, September 2011
United States Department of Health and Human Services, Lifelong Food Safety – Clean, http://www.fda.gov/Food/ResourcesForYou/HealthEducators/ucm083026.htm, September 2009