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REVIEW article

Front. Nutr.

Sec. Nutrition and Sustainable Diets

Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fnut.2025.1677243

This article is part of the Research TopicPlant-Based Foods: Harmonizing Health Promotion and Sustainability Strategies from a High-Throughput PerspectiveView all 4 articles

Plant-Based Proteins for Infant Formula: Findings and Recommendations from the ILSI Europe Workshop

Provisionally accepted
Kasper Arthur HettingaKasper Arthur Hettinga1*Chris H.P. van den AkkerChris H.P. van den Akker2Nils BilleckeNils Billecke3Renee CardinaalsRenee Cardinaals1Ching-Yu ChangChing-Yu Chang4*Didier DupontDidier Dupont5Matthew FurberMatthew Furber6Kate GrimshawKate Grimshaw7,8Paula HallamPaula Hallam9Peter De JongPeter De Jong10,11Julia K. KepplerJulia K. Keppler1Carolien Annika Van Loo-BouwmanCarolien Annika Van Loo-Bouwman12Cath MershCath Mersh13Kelly MulderKelly Mulder6Elena OliverosElena Oliveros14Susan OzanneSusan Ozanne15Iben Lykke PetersenIben Lykke Petersen16Daniel ToméDaniel Tomé17Yvan VandenplasYvan Vandenplas18Fred Van De VeldeFred Van De Velde11Sascha VerbruggenSascha Verbruggen19
  • 1Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen, Netherlands
  • 2Emma Kinderziekenhuis Amsterdam UMC, Amsterdam, Netherlands
  • 3Cargill European Food Innovation Center, Vilvoorde, Belgium
  • 4International Life Sciences Institute Europe, Brussels, Belgium
  • 5L'Institut Agro Rennes-Angers, Rennes, France
  • 6Danone Research & Innovation, Utrecht, Netherlands
  • 7Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, United Kingdom
  • 8Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust Salford Care Organisation, Salford, United Kingdom
  • 9Tiny Tots Nutrition, London, United Kingdom
  • 10Van Hall Larenstein University of Applied Sciences, Leeuwarden, Netherlands
  • 11NIZO Food Research BV, Ede, Netherlands
  • 12Yili Innovation Center Europe, Wageningen, Netherlands
  • 13Cath Mersh Communications, Aarhus, Denmark
  • 14Abbott, Granada, Spain
  • 15Department of Clinical Biochemistry, Cambridge University, Cambridge, United Kingdom
  • 16Department of Food Science, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
  • 17AgroParisTech, Université Paris-Saclay, Paris, France
  • 18Universitair Ziekenhuis Brussel Orthopedie, Brussels, Belgium
  • 19Department of Neonatal and Pediatric Intensive Care, Erasmus MC Sophia Children’s Hospital, Rotterdam, Netherlands

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This Review Article summarizes outcomes from the ILSI Europe expert workshop on plant-based proteins in infant formula, held in November 2024. Experts from academia, clinical nutrition, and food science evaluated the current use and future potential of plant-based protein sources in infant formula, considering nutritional adequacy, allergenicity, sustainability, processing technologies, and regulatory constraints. While soy and hydrolyzed rice proteins are already approved and in use, emerging sources such as pea, lentil, and faba beans show promise but require further validation of their amino acid profiles, digestibility, safety, and suitability for infants. Key research priorities identified include the development of improved protein extraction methods, in vitro digestion and allergy modeling, and targeted clinical studies. This review synthesizes current evidence and expert perspectives to support the development of sustainable, nutritionally adequate plant-based infant formulas.

Keywords: Plant-based proteins, Infant Formula, Pediatric Nutrition, Nutritional adequacy, sustainability, Food regulation, Protein quality

Received: 31 Jul 2025; Accepted: 17 Oct 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Hettinga, van den Akker, Billecke, Cardinaals, Chang, Dupont, Furber, Grimshaw, Hallam, De Jong, Keppler, Van Loo-Bouwman, Mersh, Mulder, Oliveros, Ozanne, Petersen, Tomé, Vandenplas, Van De Velde and Verbruggen. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence:
Kasper Arthur Hettinga, kasper.hettinga@wur.nl
Ching-Yu Chang, cchang@ilsieurope.be

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Supplementary Material