American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol 20, 1304-1307, Copyright © 1967 by The American Society for Clinical Nutrition, Inc.

Rational Use of Skim Milk in a Complete Infant Formula

I. Experimental Observations

¹ From Department of Pediatrics, Philadelphia General Hospital, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Skim milk given to weanling rats, separately from other energy-yielding nonprotein food products, gives a reduced value for the protein efficiency ratio compared with the value obtained for the combined mixture. In skim milk the ratio of protein calories to total calories amounts to 40%; in the combined mixture of skim milk and other energy-yielding nonprotein food products used in the PER test, this ratio is 10%. A small addition of corn starch to the skim milk moiety, reducing the protein calorie-to-total calorie ratio to 25%, increased the PER value to that found for the combined mixture. The application of these experimental findings for nutrition of infants and small children is discussed with special reference to the conditions prevailing in developing countries.