Evaluation and Categorization of Commercially Prepared Enteral Nutrition Formulas

In order to investigate the types of enteral nutrition formulas currently used in hospitals and evaluate and categorize the commercially prepared enteral nutrition formulas formulas available in the domestic market, we asked dietitians working in 6 hospitals in Seoul to complete the questionnaire and obtained compositional characteristics of 12 commercially prepared enteral nutrition formulas. The average proportion of patients receiving the commercially prepared enteral nutrition formulas(60.6%) was greater than that of patients receiving the in-hospital preparations(31.9%). In the group of patients receiving the in-hospital prepared formulas, the enteral feeding was mainly administered orally, whereas, in the group of patients receiving the commercially prepared formulas, tube feeding was the primary route of formula administration. In both groups, however, a greater proportion of patients received the formulas as total replacements of their meals and for the purpose of dietary supplementation. On the basis of major criteria for evaluation of the commercially prepared enteral nutrition formulas, the 6 products out of the 9 nutritionally complete products formulated for the purpose of dietary supplementation were grouped into the same category(standard protein, caloric density of 1kcal/ml, and tube/oral), so they were considered therapeutically comparable. However, the remaining 3 products were different in protein content(high protein) or route of administration(tube only). Of the 3 nutritionally complete products formulated specifically for the purpose of dietary therapy, 2 products were formulated for patients with renal disease, and the one product was formulated for diabetic patients. Therefore, the data in this study showed that the commercially prepared enteral nutriton formulas became an important part of the enteral nutrition for hospitalized patients in Korea, but the domestic market has not yet generated a wide variety of the formulas, not providing many choices for clinicians to manage the diets for their patients. The results of this study would be helpful for clinicians in choosing appropriate products for their patients, for manufactures in developing new products, and for regulatory authorities to establish the regulation for the broad group of heterogeneous products that are marketed and will be developed as medical foods. In addition, the process of maintaining the categories for evaluation of the commercially prepared enteral nutrition formulas should be dynamic because new products may not reasonably fit any of the existing categories.