BABY FORMULAS

Information updated May 2024

By definition, manufactured Baby Formulas are never Closest To Homemade™ since Baby Formulas are never created at home from scratch. There really is no comparison to be made between breast milk created by nature and Baby Formulas created by food scientists.

Although the Ingredient Inspector always strives to provide product solutions whose ingredients are closest to those we use at home, Baby Formulas are one category in which homemade versions are actually not recommended by doctors >> see The New York Times article by Catherine Pearson on May 11, 2022: Why Doctors Don’t Recommend Homemade Baby Formula.

Following are snapshots of the leading U.S. brands of manufactured Baby and Toddler Formulas with notes regarding the pervasive use of commercial ingredients including FDA-recognized preservatives, added sweeteners, added flavor, emulsifying and thickening agents, and commercial oils which are Not In Kitchen™ such as Palm Oil and Soybean Oil.

As the result of elaborate Food Science, the majority of ingredients in Baby Formulas are items we would never have in our home kitchens.

GERBER

ASCORBIC ACID AND TOCOPHEROLS: Ascorbic Acid is often used in fortified products and noted as “Vitamin C”. However, according to Harvard Medical School, Ascorbic Acid is, “A fractionated, crystalline isolate of Vitamin C. It is a laboratory chemical, a corn starch derivative”. Regardless of why Ascorbic Acid is included as an ingredient, it is a Chemical Preservative recognized by the U.S. FDA. Ditto Tocopherols which are also used in fortification but they, too, are an FDA-recognized Preservative. (Source: U.S. FDA 2024)

EARTH’S BEST

ENFAMIL

SIMILAC

OLIGOSACCHARIDES: There are two types appearing in some of these Baby Formulas >> Fructooligosaccharides (FOS) and Galactooligosaccharides (GOS).  GOS and FOS can be commercially synthesized or derived from natural sources.  (Source: Frontiers in Nutrition: Technological Aspects of the Production of Fructo and Galacto-Oligosaccharides May 2019)

FOS and GOS are a type of carbohydrate containing dietary fibers which appear naturally in some foods; these are soluble fibers which we do not digest or absorb. Rather, FOS and GOS act as prebiotics which feed the bacteria in our gut >> the bacteria in our gut are able to break down the fibers.

These Oligosaccharides are sometimes included in Baby Formulas to mimic the beneficial effect on babies’ intestinal microbiota which is received naturally from breast-feeding.

There are different studies on supplementation with FOS and GOS >> some conclude that their inclusion is advantageous, but some had different results including one which notes, “ . . . they might have adverse effect on glucose metabolism”. (Source: National Library of Medicine; National Center for Biotechnology information  PMID: 28924143 September 2017)

PARENT’S CHOICE

BABY’S ONLY

HAPPY BABY

BURT’S BEES

SERENITY KIDS

Serenity Kids baby food products are Closest To Homemade but their Formula contains two FDA-recognized Preservatives.

Discover food + beverages whose ingredients are Closest To Homemade in 275+ categories including Baby Foods. Neither money nor products are ever accepted to appear on the Closest To Homemade list.

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