Safety of isoflavones in soy-based infant formulas

¶ … safety of soy protein infant formulas, which have been popular in the western world for over 100 years. For infants that are allergic to or not able to nurse on cow's milk or human milk, soymilk is the basis of early nutrition. There have been some worries about isoflavones in soymilk products, and this study analyzes the safety of isoflavones and their affect on infants and vegetarian adults who rely on soymilk for their nutritional needs.

Initially, soy-based formulas were created from soy flour, but about five decades ago, "Soy protein isolate (SPI), a purified, high-quality, highly digestible soy protein" (Merritt and Jenks) began to be used in the manufacture of soy-based formulas. Recently, some scientists began to question the safety of soy-based infant formulas, and thus developed research into the safety of isoflavones in soymilk formula.

Several research studies looked at the safety and nutritional values of soy-based infant formulas. The research studied isoflavones in infants receiving soy-based formula. Although the isoflavones were higher in these infants, studies did not show any adverse results on growth or nutrition in the infants studied. Separate growth studies were also undertaken, which proved that soy-based formulas do not produce infants that are smaller or stunted in growth. Yet another study looked at reproductive health in animals and humans raised on a soy-based formula, and showed normal reproductive development and later reproductive health. In the only true negative findings of the research, study showed that some infants may develop thyroiditis on a soy-based formula diet, even if the formula is enhanced with iodine.