Content of Na, K, Ca and Mg in complementary infant food

The aim of the study was to determine the content of selected mineral elements (sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium) in fruit and vegetable desserts and dinner meals available on the Polish market designed for the nutrition of infants. The research material consisted of commercial desserts and dinner meals for infants, purchased in Lublin and Warsaw (Poland) before their use-by date. Fifteen different types of desserts (in glass jars) and seventeen types of dinner meals (in glass jarshe t) from ten different manufacturers were tested. The tested baby foodstuffs were made in Poland, Germany, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Switzerland. The content of Na, K, Ca and Mg was determined by means of the AAS flame technique on a Unicam 939 (AA Spectrometer Unicam) apparatus. The concentrations of Na, Ca and Mg in the analyzed baby foods did not exceed the norms. Assuming that a baby aged 9-12 months consumes one jar of dessert and one jar of dinner meal daily, he/she takes in 94 mg of Na (21% of the AI), more than 342 mg of K (45% of the AI), about 35 mg of Ca (7% of the AI) and above 41 mg of Mg (33% of the AI) which are included in the product.