Glutamic acid intake in formula-fed infants
What it found
Every infant in this trial took in more glutamic acid than the acceptable daily intake set by EFSA, from 0.5 to 12.5 months.
Infants fed extensive protein hydrolysate formula took in more than those fed cow milk formula.
What they found
Studies in people
Intake above the ADI
Every infant exceeded the acceptable daily intake of 30 mg glutamic acid per kg body weight per day from 0.5 to 12.5 months. This was true regardless of which formula they were fed.
Formula type mattered
Glutamic acid intake from formula was significantly higher in infants fed extensive protein hydrolysate formula than in those fed cow milk formula. The two formulas contained 436.2 mg and 262.4 mg glutamic acid per 100 ml respectively.
Sources over the first year
As glutamic acid intake from formula decreased, intake from other foods steadily increased from 5.5 months. Infant formula, baby food cereals and meats, then vegetables, grains, protein foods, mixed dishes, snacks and sweets, and dairy contributed over the year.
Also above a higher proposed level
The vast majority of infants also exceeded a proposed acceptable daily intake of 250 mg/kg body weight per day. That proposed level was based in part on estimated free glutamate intake of 4-month-old breastfed infants.
What the authors conclude
“Given that the ADI recommendation was not based on actual intake data of primary energy sources during infancy, the present findings on the growing child's ingestion of glutamic acid from infant formula and the complementary diet may be of interest when developing future guidelines and communications to parents, clinical care providers, and policy makers.”
Also in their conclusions
- They say the 2017 EFSA acceptable daily intake was not based on actual intake data of the primary energy sources during infancy.
- They suggest their findings on glutamic acid intake from infant formula and the complementary diet may be of interest when developing future guidelines and communications to parents, clinical care providers, and policy makers.
- They state that establishing an acceptable daily intake of 30 mg/kg body weight per day implies that feeding either human milk or infant formula may be unsafe and might induce alterations in neurodevelopment, but this is not the case.
How it was done
The 2017 EFSA acceptable daily intake for glutamic acid did not take into account the main energy sources during infancy, including infant formulas. The authors wanted to measure actual glutamic acid intakes in healthy formula-fed infants over the first year.
141 healthy term infants who were never breastfed were randomized to cow milk formula or extensive protein hydrolysate formula. Their formula and food intakes were recorded and their body weights measured at 14 visits from 0.5 to 12.5 months.
What it can’t tell you
- The study did not include breastfed infants, so it cannot compare measured intakes between formula-fed and breastfed babies.
- It measured how much glutamic acid infants took in, not what health effects that intake had.
Who paid
- Funding
- Funded by NICHD NIH HHS; NIH HHS (from the PubMed record).
- Conflicts
- None.
- Authors work at
- Monell Chemical Senses Center, USA; University of Delaware, USA; Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, PA
The paper
- Title
- Glutamic acid intake by formula-fed infants: are acceptable daily intakes appropriate?
- Type
- Randomised controlled trial
- Evidence
- Studies in people
- Summarised from
- Full text
- Licence
- CC BY. Words in quotation marks are the authors’; the rest is our summary.
- Cite
- Mennella JA, Smethers AD, Delahanty MT, Stallings VA, Trabulsi JC (2023). Glutamic acid intake by formula-fed infants: are acceptable daily intakes appropriate?. European journal of pediatrics. doi:10.1007/s00431-023-05215-6Free full textPubMed 37776354DOI
Summary written 26 Sep 2026. Check it against the paper before it changes what you eat. How we summarise papers · Report an error