Effect of Wet Process on Nutrient Loss Rate and Mixing Uniformity of Infant Formula Milk Powder

The wet process for producing infant formula milk powder requires multiple heating processes, which can cause some nutrient loss. Mixing uniformity is an important indicator for measuring the effectiveness of the mixing process, which is used to measure whether various nutrient indicators are evenly dispersed in infant formula milk powder. When designing infant formula milk powder, the loss rate and mixing uniformity of nutrients should be taken into account to ensure that the quality of products meets the requirements of the national food safety standards. This study analyzed nutrient loss rate and mixing uniformity in the wet processing of infant formula milk powder. The results showed that the nutrient that was most lost in the wet process was vitamins. Vitamin A (VA), vitamin B₁ (VB₁), vitamin B₁₂ (VB₁₂), and vitamin C (VC) were lost by 19.2%, 20.4%, 33.9%, and 20.3%, respectively, while the other vitamins were not significantly lost. Minerals were relatively stable in the wet process, and no significant loss of inositol, taurine or galactooligosaccharides was observed; the mixing uniformity of VB₁ was less than 95%, while the mixing uniformity of the other nutrients was above 95%.