Recently, the parenting record of a post-95 daddy has aroused heated discussions among netizens, in order to take care of the baby, he not only obtained a senior nursery teacher, but also recorded the moment of the baby's growth and scientific feeding guidelines through post-it notes, "I pay more attention to scientific parenting, I want to give the best for my child, drink water, milk powder, and want to be as scientific and nutritious as possible."
Netizens found that the water that the daddy gave the baby was "baby water" (natural drinking water suitable for infants and young children). For such products, many consumers are unclear about the difference between them and general packaged drinking water.
Dr. He Mei, Director of the Chinese Nutrition Society and researcher of Beijing Institute of Nutrient Sources, was responsible for the drafting and formulation of the T/WSJD005-2020 group standard for drinking natural mineral water (suitable for infants and young children), in her opinion, the most important indicator of drinking water suitable for infants and young children is low mineral content. Released by the China Health Supervision Association in March 2020, the group standard is based on scientific research and with reference to international standards, and is stricter than general drinking water in terms of the safety and mineral content of long-term drinking water for infants.
The release of this standard provides a reference for mainland China to develop water sources suitable for infants and young children to drink mineral water. Of course, good water is not absolutely safe, and it needs to be thoroughly sterilized before it can be given to infants and young children. Therefore, the group standard for drinking natural mineral water (suitable for infants and young children) also stipulates that mineral water suitable for infants and young children needs to be thoroughly heat sterilized, so that infants and young children can use it directly, without the need to boil like other drinking water.
According to the survey, more than 40% of consumers expect drinking water products for infants and young children
The national standards for drinking water on the mainland are broad-spectrum groups that are mainly adults. "With the progress of social life, scientific feeding is recognized by everyone, and the drinking water status of infants and young children should also be paid attention to," He Mei said, "The EU also has similar laws that allow EU member states to set standards for drinking water suitable for feeding infants." It is necessary for us to explore and formulate standards for natural mineral water products suitable for infants and young children to meet people's yearning for a better quality of life."
It is understood that after the group standard of "drinking natural mineral water (suitable for infants and young children)" is approved, the drafting work is undertaken by Beijing Nutrition Source Research Institute, China Food Fermentation Industry Research Institute Co., Ltd., National Drinking Water Product Quality Supervision and Inspection Center and other institutions. The drafting team has conducted research on the water situation of infants and young children in China through online WeChat and offline third-party research companies.
The results showed that 16% of households used mineral water to prepare infant food and give it to infants and young children, 26% used tap water to prepare infant food and give infants and young children direct drink, and the rest used pure water or household filtered water. From this result, it can be seen that a considerable part of the drinking water of infants and young children in China comes from mineral water and tap water. At the same time, more than 40% of consumers who participated in the survey expect drinking water specifically suitable for infants and young children.
Referring to international standards, the group standard requires safety and mineral content to meet the physiological characteristics of infants and young children
On March 3, 2020, the China Health Supervision Association issued the standard "Drinking Natural Mineral Water (Suitable for Infants and Young Children)" for the first time (T/WSJD 005-2020). In Dr. He Mei's view, group standards are not only an effective supplement to national standards, but also the first step in the standardized development of the industry.
Compared with GB8537 "National Standard for Food Safety for Drinking Natural Mineral Water", the standard of "Drinking Natural Mineral Water (Suitable for Infants and Young Children)" restricts mineral indicators such as sodium, potassium, calcium and magnesium, and is stricter than the former. The reason is that infancy and early childhood are important periods of human development, the nervous system, gastrointestinal digestive system, renal excretory system and other functions are not yet mature, and the dietary structure is relatively simple, so it is sensitive to nutrient deficiency or excess.
Dr. He Mei mentioned that according to the recommendation of the Chinese Nutrition Society, a 65 kg adult drinks about 1.7 L of water per day, while a 20 kg infant drinks about 1.3 L per day, which is 2.5 times that of an adult in terms of water intake per kilogram of body weight. The kidneys of infants and young children are not fully developed, the ability to concentrate urine is poor, and excessive mineral content will increase the burden on infants and young children's organs. In particular, excessive levels of calcium, magnesium, and sodium plasma will increase the burden on the baby's kidney and metabolic system, which is not conducive to the baby's growth.
In fact, the category of "baby water" has been relatively mature in the international market, Germany, France, Austria and other countries have issued relevant regulations and standards, and the World Health Organization has also put forward recommendations for the nutritional minerals in infant drinking water. "Infants and young children's drinking water should have nutritional mineral elements, but the content should be in line with the physiological and dietary characteristics of this stage." Dr. He Mei, director of the Chinese Nutrition Society and researcher of the Beijing Institute of Nutrition Source, said.
In addition, the group standard for drinking natural mineral water (suitable for infants and young children) also requires that "baby water" meet commercial sterility requirements and should be sterilized at high temperature (not less than 100°C). "Commercial sterility" means "free of pathogenic bacteria or any microorganisms that multiply during the storage, transportation and sale of a product." Bacteria and other microorganisms are widely present in natural water bodies, and the gastrointestinal tract of infants and young children is more sensitive and fragile, so the requirements for drinking water hygiene are much higher than those of adults. Authoritative departments at home and abroad, such as the World Health Organization and WHO, the US Food and Drug Administration FDA, the British National Health Service Agency NHS, etc., have put forward stricter microbiological requirements for drinking water or liquid food provided to infants and young children. The mainland's national standards for infant formula also stipulate that the microbiological requirements of liquid infant formula food must be commercially sterile.