IBFAN has worked since its founding in 1979 to ensure optimal feeding for infants and young children, citizens who are most vulnerable to food safety hazards. For babies who are not breastfed, the contamination of commercial baby milks and foods is particularly serious because these products are the sole source of food during the first months of life. Formulas are ultra-processed products that contain no anti-infective agents and provide no protection against disease or boost to the immune system. They are not sterile and it has been known for decades that they may be contaminated with pathogens such as Cronobacter sakazakii – that can, although rarely, cause serious illness in the first days or weeks of life with a mortality rate between fifty and eighty percent.
