In recent decades, due to the change of people’s living environment and lifestyle, the incidence rate of cow’s milk allergy (CMA) has risen sharply, especially in infants and young children, which has become a major public health problem worldwide. Some studies have shown that the interaction between the intestinal microbiota and the host immune system in early life can affect the development of food allergy, and the imbalance of intestinal microecology in early life will lead to an increase in the probability of immune-mediated diseases in later life. Therefore, the colonization of beneficial microbiota in the gut at the early stage of life is likely to become a key target for the prevention and treatment of CMA. Beginning with an overview of the current status of research on the pathogenesis and epidemiology of milk allergy, this paper focuses on the relationship between the intestinal microflora and CMA and on the positive role microorganisms play in the prevention and treatment of CMA, aiming to provide potential strategies for precision prevention and improvement of CMA.

Human milk contains various types of vitamin A (VA), such as retinol, β-carotene, β- cryptoxanthin, α-carotene, lycopene and lutein. The content of VA is different among colostrum, transitional milk and mature milk, but it generally decreases with the duration of lactation. For instance, the content of retinol, the most abundant type of VA in human milk, is 478–1 920, 440–1 270 and 178–825 mg/L in colostrum, transition milk and mature milk, respectively. The VA content in human milk is not only affected by lactation time, but also related to regions, the diet of lactating mothers, the fat content of human milk, etc. This paper summarizes the types, contents, influential factors and health effects (visual health, immune health, growth and development, etc.) of VA in breast milk from different countries and regions, in order to provide a basis for the development of infant formula milk powder.

Breast milk is the most ideal natural food for infants and the gold standard for the development of infant formula (IF). Accurately simulating the nutritional components of breast milk is an important means to improve IF. In order to better simulate breast milk lipids, a new generation of IF was developed based on the reported breast milk data, and then the total fatty acids and sn-2 fatty acids in breast milk and the new generation of IF were comparatively analyzed. The results showed that the new generation of IF and human milk were highly similar in total fatty acids and sn-2 fatty acids (the similarity coefficients were > 85% and > 70%, respectively). In conclusion, the new generation of IF can accurately simulate the total fatty acids and sn-2 fatty acids in human milk.

Human milk is the most perfect source of nutrition for infants. It contains all the nutrients needed for the growth and development of infants. Phospholipids can promote the intestinal, brain and cognitive development of infants, which is very important for the healthy development of infants. This paper introduces its readers to the phospholipids in human milk, focusing on the differences in the composition and content of phospholipids in human milk in different countries/regions, as well as the differences in the composition of phospholipids and phospholipid fatty acids in human, bovine, caprine and ovine milk. This review hopefully will provide a basis for the development of infant formula, especially the fine simulation of phospholipid composition and phospholipid fatty acid composition in human milk.