Double-Blind, Randomized, Multicenter Trial on the Effects of Prebiotic Galacto-oligosaccharides on the Fecal Flora and Development of Infants: First Results.

The microflora of breast fed infants is dominated by populations of bifidobacteria. Growth factors for bifidobacteria (bifidus factors), mostly oligosaccharides (in addition to otber factors), are present in human milk and to a lesser extent in cow's milk. The aim of this trial was to investigate whether the supplementation of a follow-up infant formula with prebiotics (only galactooligosaccharides) could influence the composition of the stool flora in older infants (>4 mo of age). The trial was performed ad a double- blind, randomized, prospective multicenter study