Measurement of toxic elements in infant food supplements marketed in Iran (short comunication)

Due to similarities with breast-feeding, baby food is used as a partial replacement for babies between 6 to 12 months of age. In this study, five samples of famous infant food supplement consisting of three types from Ghoncheh company (rice with milk, wheat with milk, almond porridge) and two types from Nestle company (wheat and milk, and banana and wheat with milk) were prepared. Samples were digested with nitric acid and the concentrations of cadmium, lead, manganese, molybdenum and nickel were analyzed. In addition, the estimated daily intake (EDI) index for all samples was calculated and compared with tolerable daily intake (TDI) index. The minimum and maximum concentration of cadmium was found in the sample with rice + milk formula (40.3 µg/kg) and infant food supplements containing wheat + milk (58.0 µgr/kg), respectively. The amount of cadmium, lead, manganese, molybdenum and nickel were estimated in the range of 40.3-58.0 ppb, 31.85 ppb, 2.3-4.9 ppm, 417.9-518.8 ppb and 4479.1-6415.0 ppb, respectively. In was concluded that the amount of toxic elements in infant foods marketed in Iran were found below the maximum limit.