Fluoride Content of Commercially Available Infant Foods

Objective: Excessive fluoride (F) consumption during the first two years is associated with increased risk for enamel fluorosis.  Estimates of fluoride intake from various sources may aid in the determination of children’s risk for developing enamel fluorosis. The current study aimed at assessing fluoride content of commercially available infant foods consumed by children 12 months old and younger.

Method: Five types of infant foods (fruits, vegetables, chicken dinners, turkey dinners, and non-chicken dinners) intended for children 1 year old and younger, from three brands were sampled. Samples were homogenized and frozen until time of analysis. Fluoride analysis was conducted blindly, in triplicate, using a modification of the HMDS microdiffusion method. Mean and standard deviations were calculated for each food by brand and specific type. Variance components ANOVAs were performed to estimate the variability between production lots. ANOVAs were also used to compare the fluoride concentrations among infant food types.

Result: 360 samples were tested. Fruits had a mean 0.059 ± 0.018 μg F/g; vegetables had 0.139 ± 0.039 μg F/g; non-chicken dinners had 0.164 ± 0.065 μg F/g; turkey dinners had 0.315 ± 0.242 μg F/g; and chicken dinners had 0.578 ± 0.257 μg F/g.  A chicken product had the highest fluoride concentration among all products (4.13 μg F/g), while a turkey product had the second highest concentration (1.25 μg F/g). For each brand, chicken based products had statistically significant higher mean F concentration. Products using mechanically separated chicken and turkey had the highest fluoride concentrations. All products not containing chicken or turkey (fruits, vegetables and non-chicken dinners) contained < 0.54 μg F/g. Variability between production lots was not statistically significantly different.

Conclusion: All foods tested had detectable amounts of fluoride; therefore we conclude that commercially available infant foods should be taken into account when calculating total daily fluoride intake.