L-carnitine ranks, L-carnitine is promoted by many businesses as a specific medicine for weight loss, and is regarded as "a must for slim figure" by many women who love beauty. Aside from the weight loss effect of L-carnitine, if it is found to be added to baby milk powder, it is estimated that many new mothers will have many questions-why should L-carnitine be added to baby milk powder? If it is really added, is it allowed? Does the baby have a problem after eating it?
In order to find the answers to these questions, Ms. Zhu of Hangzhou called many departments.
Baby milk powder contains diet pills.
Is this milk powder still edible?
Ms Zhu lives in Tangqi, Hangzhou. In recent days, she has been almost busy with one thing-constantly calling relevant departments, including the Industrial and Commercial Bureau, the Health Bureau, the Quality Supervision Bureau and the CDC. She just wants to know one thing, whether L-carnitine can be added to baby milk powder.
"On the evening of August 22nd, I asked my husband to give the baby milk powder for the first time. Unexpectedly, he discovered a' secret'. " Ms Zhu is a typical housewife. More than a year after her daughter was born, she has been taking care of her children at home. "My husband is busy at work and always travels, so he has little time to look after my baby." Ms. Zhu said that when making milk powder that day, her husband found that the "ingredient list" of milk powder contained an ingredient called "L-carnitine".
"Didn't the diet pills you used to eat also call L-carnitine? How is it added to baby milk powder? " The husband took the milk powder can and pointed out the relevant contents to Ms. Zhu. "Diet pills have been added to baby milk powder. Why? Does every baby need to lose weight? "
They dare not continue to use milk powder and ask the relevant departments for help. But when a phone call comes down, they are even more confused.
"We have asked milk powder manufacturers, industry and commerce, health, quality supervision and other departments, and even consulted the CDC, but everyone's statements are inconsistent." Ms. Zhu said that milk powder manufacturers said that adding L-carnitine was necessary and beneficial to babies, but they could not provide reliable evidence. There are also different explanations for the statements of relevant departments: some departments said that they did not know about the addition of L-carnitine in milk powder, and some departments said that it could be added appropriately.
"My baby has been eating Dumex for more than a year, both in bottles and in bags." Ms. Zhu said that 14-month-old daughter ate at least 100 bags of milk powder according to the calculation that the baby ate one bag of milk powder every four days on average. "I have seen it. The addition amount of L-carnitine in the two milk powders is 13 mg/ 100 g, so how much L-carnitine should be in this100g bag of milk powder? If the baby eats a lot of this additive, will it be bad for the body? "
Multiple brands of baby milk powder
Both of them contain L-carnitine.
L-carnitine was added to Dumex milk powder bought by Ms. Zhu. Is this addition an example? The qianjiang evening news reporter conducted an investigation-
On August 24th, Wal-Mart Hangzhou Huanglong Sports Center Store. More than ten brands of milk powder, such as Nestle, Yili and Beinmei, are displayed on two shelves.
"It is normal to add L-carnitine. This substance is added to baby milk powder to prevent the baby from swelling due to overnutrition. " The supermarket staff said that although she is not a nutritionist, she believes that adding L-carnitine must conform to the norms and relevant standards. "Several milk powders added with L-carnitine are big brands, and these brands will not add things indiscriminately."
Indeed, the reporter from qianjiang evening news also found that Dumex is not the only milk powder added with L-carnitine, but also Meisujiaer, Beinmei and Nestle. An obvious rule: the amount of L-carnitine added is directly related to the age of the baby-the amount of L-carnitine added in most milk powders decreases with the age of the baby. Of course, not all milk powders are added with similar substances, and L-carnitine is not added to infant milk powders of brands such as Yili and all middle-aged and elderly milk powders.
On August 26th, what qianjiang evening news reporter saw in Tesco Jianguo North Road Store was almost the same as Wal-Mart's: L-carnitine was added to infant milk powder, and the addition amount was basically between 6.8~ 13 mg/ 100 g.
L-carnitine is not equal to diet pills.
Its main function is to promote lipid metabolism.
"In fact, L-carnitine is different from diet pills. It is not a new substance. In fact, human breast milk contains a certain amount of L-carnitine. " Provincial parenting nutrition experts said that L-carnitine, also known as L-carnitine or carnitine, exists in breast milk and milk, and its main function is to promote lipid metabolism. It is responsible for transporting fatty acids to mitochondria in cells for oxidative decomposition to produce energy. Studies have shown that L-carnitine has anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidation effects, so in recent years, some merchants have developed it into a nutritional substance that can "lose weight, resist fatigue and delay aging" and added it to various health care products. L-carnitine is allowed to be added to infant milk powder, and the relevant standards also stipulate that L-carnitine should not exceed 150 mg per kilogram of infant milk powder, that is, the content of L-carnitine should not exceed 15 mg per kilogram of infant milk powder. "As long as the content of L-carnitine does not exceed the standard range, milk powder is no problem."
Zhang Pianhong, director of the Nutrition Department of the Second Hospital of Zhejiang Medical University, agreed with the above views. Zhang said that L-carnitine is a kind of food nutritional fortifier, and proper addition can promote the fat metabolism of infants and meet their growth and development needs. The main energy supply of newborn babies comes from the fat in milk, so the content of L-carnitine in food is particularly important for babies.
What is L-carnitine?
L-carnitine, also known as L-carnitine or carnitine, is an amino acid that can promote the conversion of fat into energy. Red meat is the main source of L-carnitine, which has no toxic and side effects on human body.
The main physiological function of L-carnitine is to promote the transformation of fat into energy, and its main function is to transport fat to mitochondria for combustion. L-carnitine is a carrier enzyme. Infants' L-carnitine synthesis ability is weak, and only 12% of adults, especially premature infants, must be supplemented with exogenous L-carnitine to meet the needs of the body. L-carnitine not only plays an important role in the process of energy production and fat metabolism, but also plays a certain role in some physiological processes of maintaining infant life and promoting infant development, such as ketone production and nitrogen metabolism.
At present, L-carnitine has been added to infant milk powder in 22 countries.