Determinations of taurine in milk and infant formula diets.

Taurine was analyzed in 25 different formula diets for infants by using an automatic amino acid analyzer and a specific program of separation. Average values from 17 samples of cows' milk and 36 samples of human milk (mainly from the 3rd till 6th day) served as controls. The cows' milk samples were relatively low in taurine with values of 68 (30-123) mg/kg dry matter compared to the breast milk samples which exhibited an average value of 458 (163-1170) mg/kg dry matter. The 24 analyzed milk-based formulae for infant nutrition contained only 38 (24-55) mg taurine/kg dry matter. One milk-free formula was free also of taurine. The seven samples of highly whey-protein increased formulae had significantly higher levels of taurine than the preparations based on the original ratio of whey protein to casein in cows' milk.