Frequently Asked Questions
Comparison of the Iodine Content in Infant Formula with Codex standards
4.1) How can I know whether the iodine content of the infant formula fulfills the Codex requirements?
Read the nutrition labels on the container of infant formula. If the iodine content is listed as "Per 100 kcal", "Per 100 kJ", "Per 100 g of milk powder" or "Per 100 ml of reconstituted milk", you can then follow the steps in the below questions to get the iodine content in each 100kcal or 100kJ of food, and compare it with the Codex standards. Before comparison, make sure the unit of iodine is marked as " µg" or "mcg" (1mg = 1000 µg= 1000 mcg).
| Energy Content of Food | Codex's Standard for Iodine |
|---|---|
| Per 100 kcal | 10 – 60 µg |
| Per 100 kJ | 2.5 – 14µg |
4.2) How can I know whether the infant formula fulfills the Codex standards if the iodine content is listed as "Per 100 kcal" of food?
If the iodine content is listed as "Per 100 kcal" of food, such as the partial nutrition label on the container of "Brand A" infant formula shown below, you can compare the iodine content with the Codex standard directly.
| 營養資料 Nutrition Information | ||
|---|---|---|
| 單位 Unit | Per 100 kcal 每 100 千卡 |
|
| 蛋白質 Protein | 克 g | XX |
| 脂肪 Fat | 克 g | XX |
| 碳水化合物 Carbohydrates | 克 g | XX |
| … | … | … |
| … | … | … |
| 碘 Iodine | 微克 µg | 30 |
According to the above nutrition label, per 100 kcal of Brand A infant formula contains 30 µg of iodine, which fulfils the requirement of Codex of 10 – 60 µg in every 100 kcal of food.
4.3) How can I know whether the infant formula fulfills the Codex standards if the iodine content is listed as "Per 100 kJ" of food?
If the iodine content is listed as "Per 100 kJ" of food, such as the partial nutrition label on the container of "Brand B" infant formula shown below, you can compare the iodine content with the Codex standard directly.
| 營養資料 Nutrition Information | ||
|---|---|---|
| 單位 Unit | Per 100 kJ 每 100 千焦 |
|
| 蛋白質 Protein | 克 g | XX |
| 脂肪 Fat | 克 g | XX |
| 碳水化合物 Carbohydrates | 克 g | XX |
| … | … | … |
| … | … | … |
| 碘 Iodine | 微克 µg | 6 |
According to the above nutrition label, per 100 kJ of Brand B infant formula contains 6 µg of iodine, which fulfils the requirement of Codex of 2.5 – 14 µg in every 100 kJ of food.
4.4) How can I know whether the infant formula fulfills the Codex standards if the iodine content is listed as "Per 100 g of milk powder"?
If the iodine content is listed as "Per 100 g of milk powder", such as the partial nutrition label on the container of "Brand C" infant formula shown below, you must do the conversion first before comparing the converted iodine content to the Codex standard
| 營養資料 Nutrition Information | ||
|---|---|---|
| 單位 Unit | 每 100 克的奶粉 Per 100 g of Powder |
|
| 能量 Energy | 千卡 kcal | 486 |
| 蛋白質 Protein | 克 g | XX |
| 脂肪 Fat | 克 g | XX |
| 碳水化合物 Carbohydrates | 克 g | XX |
| … | … | … |
| … | … | … |
| 碘 Iodine | 微克 µg | 200 |
According to the above nutrition label, per 100 g of brand C infant formula contains 200 µg of iodine and 486 kcal of energy.
| Iodine content per 100 kcal of food | = | Iodine content per 100 g of powder | x 100 kcal |
|---|---|---|---|
| Energy content per 100 g of powder | |||
| = | 200 µg | x 100 kcal | |
| 486 kcal | |||
| = | 41 µg | ||
Per 100 kcal of Brand C infant formula contains 41 µg of iodine, which fulfils the requirement of Codex of 10 – 60 µg in every 100 kcal of food.
4.5) How can I know whether the infant formula fulfills the Codex standards if the iodine content is listed as "Per 100 ml of reconstituted milk"?
If the iodine content is listed as "Per 100 ml of reconstituted milk", such as the partial nutrition label on the container of "Brand D" infant formula shown below, you must do the conversion first before comparing the converted iodine content to theCodex standard.
| 營養資料 Nutrition Information | ||
|---|---|---|
| 單位 Unit | 每 100 毫升已沖調的奶水 Per 100 ml of Reconstituted Milk |
|
| 能量 Energy | 千焦 kJ | 350 |
| 蛋白質 Protein | 克 g | XX |
| 脂肪 Fat | 克 g | XX |
| 碳水化合物 Carbohydrates | 克 g | XX |
| … | … | … |
| … | … | … |
| 碘 Iodine | 微克 µg | 5 |
According to the above nutrition label, per 100 ml of Brand D reconstituted milk contains 5 µg of iodine and 350 kJ of energy.
| Iodine content per 100 kJ of food | = | Iodine content per 100 ml of reconstituted milk | x 100 kJ |
|---|---|---|---|
| _____________________________ | |||
| Energy content per 100 ml of reconstituted milk | |||
| = | 5 µg | x 100 kJ | |
| 350 kJ | |||
| = | 1.4 µg |
Per 100 kJ of Brand D infant formula contains 1.4 µg of iodine, which is lower than the requirement of Codex of 2.5 – 14 µg in every 100 kJ of food.
4.6) For products not meeting Codex requirements, does it mean that the consumer's health is at risk?
Codex develops harmonised international food standards to protect the health of the consumers and ensure fair trade practices in the food trade. However, Codex only specifies the desirable level of iodine in food. Detected level below Codex standard does not necessarily mean the consumer's health is at risk. When assessing whether a product may pose health risk to the targetted consumer, risk assessment study has to be carried out, taking into account of: feeding instruction of each product, iodine content in local boiled tap water (10μg/L) and average body weight of local infants.