Conflicts of Interest
The formula milk powder (QQ Star Milk Powder) used in the study was produced and provided by Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial Group Co., Ltd., China. Yu-ming Chen from Sun Yat-sen University received a research grant (Grant B) supported by Inner Mongolia Dairy Technology Research Institute Co. Ltd. (IMDTRI), Hohhot, China, to complete this experiment as the principal investigator (PI). The fund was a part of the support from the Huhhot Science & Technology Plan (No.2020-Ke Ji Xing Meng-National Innovation Center-10 projects) (Grant A) received by Zi-fu Zhao at IMDTR. Li-peng Jing from Lanzhou University received a research grant (Grant C) from Sun Yat-sen University as a part of Grant B to complete the trial fieldwork under the PI’s supervision. Jing-yu Hao, Zi-fu Zhao, and Ignatius Man-Yau Szeto are employees of IMDTR and Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial Group Co., Ltd., Hohhot, China (IGYIGC). Wen-hui Ye and Xue-fei Bai are employees of IGYIGC. All of them were responsible for developing and producing the formula milk powder. They also conducted regular audits for the trial implementation as per the study protocol developed by the PI.