Conflict of Interest Disclosure

The conflict-of-interest policy of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (http://www.nationalacademies.org/coi) prohibits the appointment of an individual to a committee authoring a Consensus Study Report if the individual has a conflict of interest that is relevant to the task to be performed. An exception to this prohibition is permitted if the National Academies determines that the conflict is unavoidable and the conflict is publicly disclosed. A determination of a conflict of interest for an individual is not an assessment of that individual's actual behavior or character or ability to act objectively despite the conflicting interest.

John Wallingford has a conflict of interest in relation to his service on the Committee on Protein Quality and Growth Monitoring Studies to Satisfy Quality Factor Requirements for Infant Formula due to receiving compensation attributable to his work as an independent consultant representing Jovie and Arla, two infant formula companies.

The National Academies has concluded that for this committee to accomplish the tasks for which it was established, its membership must include at least one person who has substantial recent experience in applying regulatory standards for protein quality in infant formula standards for good practice. As described in his biographical summary, Dr. Wallingford has extensive experience working on regulatory requirements for infant formulas, including guidance regarding clinical studies undertaken to satisfy growth monitoring study regulations as well as protein efficiency studies in conformance with current regulations. Based on his background at FDA overseeing infant formula notifications and his work at Wyeth Nutrition on global regulatory compliance of infant formula with Codex standards, and European Union directives and regulations, Dr. Wallingford has deep knowledge of the current standards for good practice in regulatory analysis of infant formula from both a policy and nutrition perspective.

The National Academies has determined that the experience and expertise of Dr. Wallingford is needed for the committee to accomplish the task for which it has been established. The National Academies could not identify another available individual with the equivalent experience and expertise who does not have a conflict of interest. Therefore, the National Academies has concluded that the conflict is unavoidable.

The National Academies believes that Dr. Wallingford can serve effectively as a member of the committee, and the committee can produce an objective report, taking into account the composition of the committee, the work to be performed, and the procedures to be followed in completing the study.