Abstract

Human breast milk supplies vital nutrients to infants and is the gold standard to which all infant formulas arecompared. While many infant formulas supply necessary nutrients comparable to breast milk, the type of fat can differsignificantly. Human breast milk fat largely contains a unique placement of palmitic acid on the sn-2 position of thetriglyceride and although infant formulas can contain palmitic acid, the placement of palmitic acid at the sn-2 position ismuch lower. High sn-2 palmitic acid is the same triglyceride structure found in human milk fat and serves as a functionalingredient when added to infant formulas. Studies show that High sn-2 infant formula (High sn-2 IF), much like breast milk,leads to increased fatty acid absorption, increased calcium absorption, reduced formation of fecal calcium soaps, andsofter stools vs. fat sources used in common commercial infant formulas.