Added Sugar Found In Infant Formulas

Sugars found in infant formulas are not listed as an ingredient on packaging.

This is disturbing news for parents, pediatricians and anyone concerned about childhood obesity.

While “breast is best”, babies who do receive formula are at risk for developing a super sweet tooth.

Added sugars, of the wrong kind, contribute to creating fat cells in the body which never go away.

The more fat cells developed the tougher it is to maintain healthy weight.

Among the results, Enfamil Premium and Parent’s Choice Premium Infant formulas had the highest sugar content at 13.5 and 12.4 grams of lactose per serving. Lactose is what scientists call the best type of sugar and it’s the kind found in breast milk.

Three formulas tested low for any sugar: Gerber Good Start, Similac Advance Complete, and Enfamil Pro-Sobee.

But two, both made by Similac, did contain other added sugars. Similac Advance Organic Complete Nutrition contained one of the sweetest kind of sugars, sucrose, measuring in at 3.5 grams per serving. That’s roughly the equivalent of one teaspoon of sugar for every five ounces.

In Europe, concern over childhood obesity led to a ban on sucrose in baby formula. Dozens of countries do not allow the kind of sugar that was found in those two brands.

FDA Warns Against Food Thickener in Infant Formula

Many different types of milk (other than an infant formula) have been given to babies in the past, but we now know that a lot of these are not suitable for babies and can cause serious health problems.

The base in the majority of infant formulas comes from cow’s milk, goat’s milk or soy beans, which has been modified or changed with important nutrients added so that the formula is similar to breast milk in nutrient composition.

It’s not a perfect match because the exact chemical make-up of breast milk is unknown.

The Food and Drug Administration is telling parents, health care workers and people who take care of babies to avoid using a thickener for breast milk or formula fed to premature infants.

A product called SimplyThick may be causing life-threatening damage to children’s intestines, the agency said.

The FDA, which first learned about possible problems with SimplyThick on May 13, is now aware of 15 cases of necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), including two deaths.

In all those cases, the FDA says SimplyThick gel was added to the formula or breast milk fed to the babies, who had trouble swallowing because of complications from their premature birth.

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