Silver Spring, MD—On April 15, the U.S Food and Drug Administration (FDA) proposed a rule entitled “Infant Formula: The Addition of Minimum and Maximum Levels of Selenium to Infant Formula and Related Labeling Requirements,” which will do two things: add the nutrient selenium to the list of those required for infant formulas and establish a range of measurement for selenium that will be allowed in infant formulas. If this rule comes to fruition, selenium will be the 30^th nutrient added to the mandatory list.

Selenium many antioxidant properties that make it essential to good health and wellness. In 1989, the Institute of Medicine deemed selenium a necessary nutrient for infants, prompting U.S formula manufacturers to add the nutrient to their products. Even though all of the formula processed today contains selenium, FDA’s rule will help regulate the amount of selenium found in the products. They propose that formulas carry between 2.0 and 7.0 micrograms of selenium per 100 kilocalories.

Published in WholeFoods Magazine, June 2013 (online 4/19/13)