The rice cereal complementary food contains the HMO 2’-fucosyllactose (2’-FL).
This development comes after China’s National Health Commission (NHC) announced that 2′-FL could be used as a food fortifier in cereal-based complementary foods and canned complementary foods for infants and young children.
Commercially available as Gerber PRO HMO infant cereal, the product, targeted at supporting the immune system, is also rich in protein and contains the probiotic strain Bifidobacterium lactis BB-12.
The product is sold in mother-and-baby stores and e-commerce platforms online since May.
“Gerber PRO HMO infant cereal supports a baby’s immunity as they commence their complementary food journey, also providing essential protein, vitamins and minerals in the process.
“Part of the Gerber PRO infant cereal line with functional ingredients was launched last year. This product complements the range and offers additional functional benefits through the inclusion of the 2′-FL HMO," said a spokeswoman.
Gerber formally launched its complementary cereal product series for toddlers six month old and above in China last July.
So far, it has launched two other products under this series: a partially hydrolysed whey protein formula cereal and an a2-beta protein formula cereal.
Aside from the latest launch in China, Gerber launched products containing 2′-FL in infant and toddler drinks instead of rice cereals, back in 2020 in the US market.
Beefing up HMO innovations
Nestle has been focusing on HMOs innovations to cope with the market share loss in China’s premium infant formula space, CEO Laurent Freixe said during the company’s FY24 financial results in February.
HMOs represent the third most abundant solid component after lactose and lipids in human breast milk.
To this end, the company has developed NAN Sinergity formulation, which is a proprietary formula blend that combines probiotics with six human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) structurally identical to those found in breastmilk.
These HMOs include 2-FL, Lacto-N-tetraose (LNT), 6-Sialyllactose (6-SL), 3-Sialyllactose (3-SL), 3-Fucosyllactose (3-FL), and Difucosyllactose (DFL).
The formula is designed to support a more favourable gut environment and stronger immunity in early childhood.
The blend first hit the market as NAN InfiniPro infant formula in Hong Kong back in November 2023.
Having launched products containing the blend in 15 markets last year, the goal for this year is to launch it in at least 10 more markets.
“We recently announced its geographic expansion to markets throughout Latin America and the Middle East, with launches in additional parts of Asia planned for later this year. This expansion follows on the innovation’s success in Europe,” said the spokeswoman.
Started over 30 years ago
According to Nestle China, the company’s HMO research can be traced back to over 30 years ago, with a research article published in 1988 that systematically explained HMO’s structure and potential functions.
The company is said to have published about 75 research articles on HMOs and has conducted over 30 clinical studies on HMOs assessing its safety, stability, and efficacy.
