formula milk guidelines

[failingmammalian]

hi, wondering if anyone has any insight into this: the WHO and NHS guidelines say you have to use 70 C water to make up formula as you need to kill the nasties in formula powder to avoid life threatening salmonella and similar. but on the packet it makes no mention of this and in the case of danone products they say to use mineral water (evian of course!) straight from the bottle.... on holiday in france i saw everyone is merrily making up formula with room temp mineral water and the chemist was horrified i was boiling tap water to make formula. any ideas whats going on here? are the WHO guidelines OTT/ aimed at formula thats a bit less well controlled than western european brands? am at a bit of a loss..... bf was so much easier....groan. thanks

Powdered formula is not sterile and therefore there is a tiny chance it could contain bacteria that may keep a baby very ill.

These bacteria are destroyed by water of 70°c + hence why the advice given is water of that temp.

In the interests of being easy to understand formula tubs state boil fresh water, leave for 30 mins and then use. In that half hour the boiling water cools to just above 70 in the average temp kitchen.

So it is 70°c but given as cooling time so we don't all end up having to sterilise a thermometer to stick in the bottles to check temp, risking cross contamination.

HTH.

*may MAKE a baby very ill. FFS lol!

Essentially its about killing potential nasties in the powder, which cold water, even sterile mineral water won't do.

It's nothing to do with where the formula is from, the minute you open any tub and dip in and out its not sterile no matter how it started off (which is also non sterile night matter what some people believe).

Mineral water is not recommended because some is not suitable for babies due to high concentrations of minerals, which, if boiled can be concentrated further. Some brands are ok, but it's use has no impact on the safety of the formula that is solely down to using boiled water of at least 70°c.

this is worth a read. Some companies are now flouting the department of health guidelines.

Some more info

Interesting on hipp. In France and spain the packet makes no mention of hot water at all and danone helpline in spain hasn't even heard of who guidelines. All v wierd. I'm at a loss as to why guidelines haven't made it across channel. Thanks for replies !

Guidelines are based on the European Food Safety Authority's guidance.

www.efsa.europa.eu/en/efsajournal/pub/113.htm