Extension of AOAC Official Method 996.01 to the analysis of Standard Reference Material (SRM) 1846 and infant formulas.

There is currently no official method for the analysis of fatty acids (including trans fatty acids) in infant formulas. AOAC Official Method 996.01 for Fat Analysis in Cereal Products was extended to the analysis of milk-based infant formula Standard Reference Material (SRM)1846 to determine its applicability for use with infant formulas. Following the analysis of SRM 1846, 2 infant formulas, one milk-based liquid and one soy-based powdered infant formula, were analyzed for total fatty acid composition. Fatty acid methyl esters were prepared and analyzed by gas chromatography. The results of the analysis of SRM 1846 show that the mean analyzed values were highly reproducible as indicated by low coefficients of variation (CV). The CVs were <5% for the major fatty acids. Mean analyzed values for individual fatty acids in SRM 1846 were within +/- 1 standard deviation of the certificate values. The analyzed value for total fat as triglycerides (26.27 +/- 0.25%) agreed well with the certificate value (27.1 +/- 0.59%). Analyses of infant formulas showed that the concentrations of linoleic acid and fat meet the requirements for such formulas.