AAP Recommendations on Cow Milk, Soy, and Early Infant Feeding

The report of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Work Group on Cow Milk Protein and insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) states that early exposure to cow milk protein may be an important factor in the initiation of the β-cell destructive process in some individuals and recommends that, with the exception of cow milk-based infant formulas, high-risk infants not be fed products containing cow proteins during the first year of life.¹ In addition, the feeding of soy-based formulas was discouraged based on studies reported from our laboratory. The idea that IDDM might be food-induced has important possibilities concerning prevention, but the relationship is just not as simple as first thought.²