The Human Milk Composition Initiative – Filling Crucial Gaps in Data on and Related to Human Milk in the United States and Canada

Authors: CASAVALE, KELLIE - Food And Drug Administration(FDA); VARGAS, ASHLEY - Health & Human Services; Ahuja, Jaspreet; Pehrsson, Pamela; CHAKRABARTI, SUBHADEEP - Health Canada; HOPPERTON, KATHRYN - Health Canada; PAARNEL, SOPHIE - Health Canada; MÉLANIE, L - Health Canada

Submitted to: Advances in Nutrition
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/1/2023
Publication Date: 11/1/2023
Citation: Casavale, K., Vargas, A., Ahuja, J.K., Pehrsson, P.R., Chakrabarti, S., Hopperton, K.E., Paarnel, S., Mélanie, L. 2023. The Human Milk Composition Initiative – Filling Crucial Gaps in Data on and Related to Human Milk in the United States and Canada. Advances in Nutrition. 14(6): 1253–1254.

Interpretive Summary: The Human Milk Composition Initiative (HMCI) is a joint effort between multiple federal agencies within the United States and Canada to coordinate the development of human milk (HM) composition (HMC) data for use by federal policy, program, and other stakeholders (Ref ). HMCI is not a funded research program or a funding body; instead, it is a strategic collaboration with the aim of fostering concerted and informed efforts to positively impact public health through a coordinated approach to collecting data on and related to HMC. HMCI was founded in large part due to data needs of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGAs). In developing the DGAs, population level nutrient exposures from foods are compared to the daily recommended intakes such as the Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs), to identify discrepancies that could pose a public health concern. To compound the challenge in determining nutrients of public health concern for infants, it has been recognized that, in many cases, the data used to develop the DRIs for infants are as outdated, particularly for nutrients with Adequate Intake values (all DRIs for infants except iron, zinc, and protein). HMCI is dedicated to finding a path to fill the gaps in HMC data that will unveil a vast amount of new knowledge for public health including that related to the developmental origins of health and disease. To this end, the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, in support of HMCI, commissioned a scoping review to identify available evidence with the potential to meet inclusion criteria for developing new estimates for nutrients in HMC. The scoping review has moved HMCI one step closer to its vision and goal.

Technical Abstract: The Human Milk Composition Initiative (HMCI) is a joint effort between multiple federal agencies within the United States and Canada to coordinate the development of human milk (HM) composition (HMC) data for use by federal policy, program, and other stakeholders (Ref ). HMCI is not a funded research program or a funding body; instead, it is a strategic collaboration with the aim of fostering concerted and informed efforts to positively impact public health through a coordinated approach to collecting data on and related to HMC. HMCI was founded in large part due to data needs of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGAs). In developing the DGAs, population level nutrient exposures from foods are compared to the daily recommended intakes such as the Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs), to identify discrepancies that could pose a public health concern. To compound the challenge in determining nutrients of public health concern for infants, it has been recognized that, in many cases, the data used to develop the DRIs for infants are as outdated, particularly for nutrients with Adequate Intake values (all DRIs for infants except iron, zinc, and protein). HMCI is dedicated to finding a path to fill the gaps in HMC data that will unveil a vast amount of new knowledge for public health including that related to the developmental origins of health and disease. To this end, the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, in support of HMCI, commissioned a scoping review to identify available evidence with the potential to meet inclusion criteria for developing new estimates for nutrients in HMC. The scoping review has moved HMCI one step closer to its vision and goal.