Fat absorption by small babies fed two filled milk formulae.

In 3-day fat balances, 7 of 8 infants had appreciably more steatorrhoea when they were fed Cow and Gate V formula than when they were fed SMA. The mean fat excretion (+/- SEM) expressed as a percentage of the amount ingested on Cow and Gate V was 28-1 +/- 3-9 compared with 10-5 +/- 2-3 on SMA. Gas-liquid chromatography of the faecal fat in 2 of 3 infants showed that C16:0 was responsible for most of the excess fatty acid when they were fed Cow and Gate V formula.