SDAA Handbook home page

This handbook is intended for healthcare professionals only. It is intended to provide useful product and clinical usage information on Vitaflo’s range of Single Dose Amino Acids (SDAAs) in the form of individual fact files. Where available, this handbook directs the reader to further information in the relevant clinical guidelines.

The handbook is not intended for use by parents, caregivers or patients themselves. It is for general information only and must not be used as a substitute for professional medical advice.

Dietary supplementation with individual amino acids is used in a wide range of disorders, particularly disorders of protein metabolism where restrictive therapeutic diets limit natural protein intake and potentially increase the risk of an essential amino acid deficiency.

In these disorder types, the quantities of amino acids supplemented are often small and impractical to weigh out accurately on domestic weighing scales. When this is the case, hospital or local pharmacies may be required to prepare ‘doses’ for patients, a practice which is inconvenient, time-consuming and, even in experienced hands, potentially prone to error.

In 2007 Vitaflo launched its SDAA range. Covering a wide range of amino acids, we spoke to global experts and asked them what quantities they typically used with their patients. We then pre-measured those quantities and placed them in sachets, on a carbohydrate base.

For many patients, families and caregivers, this eliminates the need to weigh out amino acids and thus brings convenience, reassurance and a reduced need to collect products from their pharmacy, all of which may support adherence. Additionally, the use of pre-measured sachets has been shown to decrease preparation error, compared to using scoops or weighing scales¹, which may, in the context of SDAAs, help reduce the risk of potentially serious dosage errors.

Naming System

Phenylalanine50 provides 50mg of L-phenylalanine per sachet