This draft proposal suggests that manufacturers conduct research trials and otherwise gather evidence to back assertions of how their products actually function in a baby's body. Manufacturers and others have 60 days to comment, before the agency adopts a final guideline.
The move marks the first time that the FDA has proposed a standard, even a voluntary one such as this, for companies making health claims about a specific food. (The FDA did develop a standard for dietary supplements broadly.) In recent years, formula manufacturers have increasingly developed specialized products, often with vitamins, other nutrients, or additives, which they target to parents eager for their babies to have superior immune systems, digestion, or brains.
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