Phylloquinone (vitamin K1) content of commercially-available baby food products

The contents of phylloquinone (vitamin K-1) were investigated in two batches of 62 commercially available baby food products, by HPLC. They comprised vegetable products for babies from 5, 8 and 12 months and fruit and cereal products of three different brands. Vitamin K-1 was detected in all analyzed products. In vegetable products for babies from 5 months, the mean content of phylloquinone ranged from 30 to 100 mug/100 g, except for 'Samples with spinach', which provided 700 mug vitamin K-1/100 g on average. Vegetable products for babies from 8 months and from 12 months showed similar values. In the group of fruit and cereal products, the contents of phylloquinone were lower and varied between 10 and 20 mug/100 g only, except for 'Various cereals' (46 mug/100 g). The analyzed baby food products are a very good source of phylloquinone and are therefore excellent as a supplement to breast milk. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.