They find unreported amounts of zinc on the labeling of baby milk formulas

Querétaro, Qro., Research carried out by scientists from the Center for Applied Physics and Advanced Technology (CFATA) at the UNAM Juriquilla campus found unreported amounts of zinc in dairy formulas and nanoplastics from tea bags.

The head of the nanotoxicology laboratory, Karla Oyuki Juárez Moreno, an associate researcher at CFATA, told The Day that through nanotechnology identified the presence of microparticles in commercial products, mainly in food.

While in Europe, he added, there are some of these products that are already labeled with the presence of nanomaterials, “in Mexico there are no such labels.”

He also indicated that many powdered foods “could contain nanomaterials to prolong shelf life, as well as improve flavor and stability.”

In the Juriquilla laboratory, nanomaterials and advanced materials technologies are developed that directly impact daily life. This is how the project to study infant milk formulas arose; The purpose is to try to isolate nanoparticles of metal oxides such as zinc. The interest is inspired by a study that highlights that seven out of 10 newborns exclusively consume milk formulas during their first months of life.

Juárez Moreno explained that baby milk formulas will never be able to match breast milk because they have a high sugar and fat content, in addition to lacking many proteins and other nutrients.

“That is why some minerals are added to these formulas, including zinc,” one of the most important minerals in the human body, since it regulates more than 300 chemical reactions, from duplicating genetic material to reproduction.

“These milks or infant milk formulas have zinc powder that is obtained from natural minerals through grinding, that is, they crush it. Many suppliers of these minerals know that their product contains these nanoparticles, but they do not report it. Obviously, those in charge of fortifying these foods do not know that they include nanomaterials. So, what we did was interview women who use total consumption formulas for their children and we rescued at least four commercial brands – which I am not going to mention due to legal terms – in which we identify the zinc content.

Incongruity

“We observed that there was inconsistency between the amount of zinc reported on the product label and the actual amount contained. The metabolic regulation of zinc is very fine in the body, but it is not good for a child who only feeds on powdered milk to consume a lot of zinc because his metabolism is deregulated,” he stressed.

The specialist reiterated that in the research it was observed that “there was a cytotoxic effect in the long run, that is, they could damage the cells. It is not that it is lethal or dangerous because each cell reacts differently. The questions that govern this project are: how does the body adapt to this type of materials? What type of mechanisms is the cell making to adapt to this type of materials? Based on them, other projects were generated that involve studying and isolating micro and nanoplastics from plastic bags. tea.”

In other research, he added, different bag teas were prepared, managing to purify microfibers and plastic nanoparticles. “From observation the question arises: how does your body tolerate these daily exposures? Because we are alive, so there are adaptation processes. And it’s not that we want tea bags to disappear; we just want to know what type of materials they are using and how we can make the consumer aware of the pros and cons. We are having adaptive processes not only to those, but to a lot of other contaminants.”

Other doctoral projects in the laboratory are carried out by students Tonantzin de Dios and Pavel Alexandro Gómez Nieto, who are trying to discover which other commercial products contain nanomaterials. In this way, nanoparticles have been identified in daily multivitamin dietary supplements for women, in addition to zinc oxide.

“The interesting thing is not only to set off alarms due to the presence of these particles, but to resolve how long ago it has been. We do not know, but there are adaptive processes. The idea is not to disappear things, but to try to regulate them, regulate them and give the consumer the option to consume and make an informed purchase,” concluded the specialist.