1 Unit for Gastroenterology
2 Unit for Nutrition, University Children's Hospital Queen Fabiola, Avenue JJ. Crocq 15, B-1020 Brussels, Belgium
To the Editor.
Litov and co-workers1 address an important question regarding aluminum loading in infants. Aluminum is a toxic element. Its retention results in an increase in the body burden of aluminum. This has been shown to be a health hazard in patients with compromised kidney function and in those receiving total parenteral nutrition.
The aluminum content of soy-based infant formulas is known to be high.2 The authors report their finding of normal plasma aluminum levels in infants fed a soybased formula during the first 3 months of life, and they suggest that the ingestion of "amounts of aluminum severalfold greater than that found in human milk" is of no clinical relevance.