OBJECTIVES: A systematic review of the literature was performed to gather all official recommendations on the prevention in infants of allergic manifestations (AM), and, more specifically, atopic dermatitis (AD), by using hydrolyzed infant formulas (HF) such as partially or extensively hydrolyzed formula (PHF; EHF). METHODS: OVID MEDLINE® and the grey literature were searched by two reviewers using the keywords AM, AD, prevention and guidelines. A third person acted as adjudicator in case of disagreement. Of interest were recommendations pertaining to the prevention of AM issued by national or regional associations of medical professionals. RESULTS: This review yielded 11 sets of guidelines published for Australia, France, Germany, Spain, Switzerland (all n=1), Europe and the US (both n=3) between 1999 and 2010. Most guidelines included AD either specifically (n=3) or in the broad context of AMs. Six guidelines (of which 2 recommended PHF over EHF) endorsed the use of HFs for the prevention of AM in “at risk” infants when exclusive breastfeeding was not or no longer possible. Two other publications did not explicitly recommend HFs, but rather formulas with a documented reduced allergenicity. The need for an appropriate level of nutritional support was stressed in one publication. Five guidelines acknowledged that not all HFs have the same protective benefit. .  Four publications underlined the importance of sound clinical evidence when determining the preventive efficacy of HFs. None of the guidelines based their recommendations on recent evidence from meta-analyses focusing on a specific brand of PHF NAN-HA®. CONCLUSIONS: HFs and specifically PHFs are endorsed for the prevention of AMs.  The need for a strong validity and universality of the clinical evidence and methodology is acknowledged by national or regional medical associations.  Hence, recent evidence regarding the preventive efficacy of a specific brand of PHF, NAN-HA®, should provide the basis for new recommendations.