Table 3.

Scientific substantiation of 10 most common infant formula health and nutrition claims, excluding reference duplicates (266 unique references)

Type of claim	Total No of claims with references cited	No/total No (%) of references
		Registered clinical trials	Non-registered clinical trials	Reviews*	Meta-analyses, pooled analyses, systematic reviews	Other peer reviewed citation†	Reports, guidelines, regulations	Opinion pieces, abstracts, posters, other‡
All claims	560	38/266 (14)	96/266 (36)	52/266 (20)	8/266 (3)	38/266 (14)	10/266 (4)	24/266 (9)
Helps/supports development of brain and/or eyes and/or nervous system	136	3/38 (8)	22/96 (23)	10/52 (19)	3/8 (38)	4/38 (11)	5/10 (50)	6/24 (25)
Strengthens/supports a healthy immune system	94	7/38 (18)	15/96 (16)	23/52 (44)	1/8 (13)	6/38 (16)	1/10 (10)	6/24 (25)
Stimulates growth of healthy intestinal bacteria	56	8/38 (21)	9/96 (9)	8/52 (15)	0/8 (0)	4/38 (11)	0/10 (0)	2/24 (8)
Dietary management of allergy including cow’s milk allergy (CMA)	49	6/38 (16)	19/96 (20)	5/52 (10)	0/8 (0)	4/38 (11)	2/10 (20)	2/24 (8)
Helps/supports growth and development	36	9/38 (24)	11/96 (11)	2/52 (4)	1/8 (13)	2/38 (5)	1/11 (9)	2/24 (8)
Reduces risk of allergy development	36	6/38 (16)	6/96 (6)	6/52 (12)	2/8 (25)	3/38 (8)	0/11 (0)	3/24 (13)
Easy to digest	27	1/38 (3)	5/96 (5)	1/52 (2)	2/8 (25)	3/38 (8)	0/11 (0)	3/24 (13)
Promotes softer/improves stool consistency	24	4/38 (11)	7/96 (7)	3/52 (6)	0/8 (0)	3/38 (8)	0/11 (0)	0/24 (0)
Dietary management of colic	15	1/38 (3)	8/96 (8)	0/52 (0)	0/8 (0)	1/38 (3)	0/11 (0)	1/24 (4)
Strengthens and develops bones	7	2/38 (5)	0/96 (0)	1/52 (2)	0/8 (0)	0/38 (0)	0/11 (0)	3/24 (13)

^*Including textbook chapters.

^†Including cohort studies, animal studies, and cross sectional studies.

^‡Including opinion pieces, conference abstracts or poster presentations, market research, websites, and nutrition content labels.