We went to the Department of Health and Food Standards Agency and discussed this issue with them before we launched the product in the UK. They said that although their guidance remains that a water temperature of 70 degrees C or above should be used when preparing powdered formula feeds, they acknowledged that for some formulas this might not be possible as this high water temperature will kill the probiotic bacteria. In these cases they state that 'the onus is on a manufacturer to place safe food on the market and providing appropriate, safe preparation and handling instructions should be part of this'.

At HiPP we believe that we have sufficient documentation to support preparation of our formulas at the lower temperature of 40-50 degrees C and that when prepared at this lower temperature according to our instructions and fed to the baby immediately the milk is safe. We do extensive microbiological testing of our products at each stage of production and the risk of bacterial contamination of our formulas is minimised through careful production measures. We give clear preparation and handling instructions on the packaging to help ensure the products are used correctly by our users.

As further reassurance, it is worth mentioning that these milks have been used throughout Europe for several years now without problems.

Claire x