The Centre for Food Safety (CFS) has embarked on a two-year programme to test the nutritional composition of infant and follow-up formula available in the local market and planned to collect 48 products for laboratory testing in 2012-2013. Among the 14 infant formulae collected in the first round of the survey, six of them were found to contain iodine level lower than the Codex prescribed requirements. Taking reference to the World Health Organization (WHO)'s recommended daily iodine intake level, two out of six of them have low level of iodine content to an extent that have health concerns to those infants who have been solely fed on these two products.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Concerns of Locally Available Infant Formula
- Iodine for Infants
- Iodine Content Requirements in Infant Formula
- Comparison of the Iodine Content in Infant Formula with Codex standards
- Comparison of the Iodine Content in Infant Formula with WHO daily iodine intake requirement
Information for Healthcare Professional
- Letter to Doctors
- Letter to Healthcare Professionals
- Frequently Asked Questions for Healthcare Professionals (updated as of 10 August)
Test Results
- Tested Iodine Content in 1 Sample of Infant Formula (Uploaded on 28 December)
- Tested Iodine Content in 2 Samples of Infant Formulae (Uploaded on 27 September)
- Tested Iodine Content in 1 Sample of Infant Formula (Uploaded on 10 September)
- Tested Iodine Content in 1 Sample of Infant Formula (Uploaded on 4 September)
- Tested Iodine Content in 13 Samples of Infant Formulae (Uploaded on 30 August)
- Tested Iodine Content in 19 Samples of Infant Formulae (Uploaded on 16 August)
- Tested Iodine Content in 21 Samples of Infant Formulae (Uploaded on 10 August)
Tested Iodine Level in Infant Formulae Available in Hong Kong (Uploaded on 28 December)
Press releases
- New Zealand infant formula found to have low iodine content (with photo) (4 September 2012)
- Centre for Food Safety announces latest round of test results on iodine content of infant formulae (Uploaded on 30 August)
- Results of latest round of tests on iodine content of infant formulae released (16 August 2012)
- Four more Japanese infant formulae found to have low iodine content (with photos)(10 August 2012)
- Two Japanese infant formulae found to have low iodine content (with photo/video)(8 August 2012)
Relevant Websites
- Department of Health - Iodine in Infant Formula
- Department of Health – Feeding Young Babies
- Department of Health – Switching milk formulae for babies
For enquiries, please call the enquiry hotline at 3978 0600 (Monday to Friday: 9:00am – 6:00pm; Voice mail service will be provided beyond these hours).