"Novel Oils in Infant Formula and Organic Foods: Safe and Valuable Functional Food or Risky Marketing Gimmick?"

[hunkermunker]

I think it's been posted before but I reckon it's worth posting again.

This is the executive summary - I can post a link to the full report too, if anyone's interested.

[tiktok]

Dotty, you say "Rather than trying to focus this on making manufactueres more responsible (which will never happen as they are massive profit making machines who don't give a shit) it would be much more helpful to focus campaignes on providing more support and more services for expectant and new mothers in order for them to get through breast feeding difficulties...."

Most people who post on these issues do focus on campaigns for bf support, as well, though, Dotty.

[Dotty38]

As a Mum who now formula feeds having had huge problems with breast feeding and only managed 8 weeks of 100% breast milk this thread is very hard to read.

I agree with the general consensus that Formula milk should and NEEDS to be regulated as over the counter medications are. This would provide mothers with the information needed and would force the manufacturers to actually make formula plain and simple in terms of being made up of exactly what is needed as appose to made up of gimicky stuff which is/could be harmful just for the sake of marketing to make more money.

I feel a little insensed at some of the earlier comments about the type of mother who formula feeds, and that they probably wouldn't question what they are feeding their baby. How can you say something like this??? Most mothers, and I say most as I know as a health and social care professional myself that there are parents out there who for one reason or another are not able to sought the information out or able to make an informed and sensible decision re feeding their baby and therefore need help and support with such decisions, however most mothers do look at what is contained in the formula they give their baby and are trying to make informed desions.

Rather than trying to focus this on making manufactueres more responsible (which will never happen as they are massive profit making machines who don't give a shit) it would be much more helpful to focus campaignes on providing more support and more services for expectant and new mothers in order for them to get through breast feeding difficulties so that women don't switch to formula bottles before the age of 6 months. 1st time mums need to be prepared for how hard breast feeding is (the NHS antenatal classes do not offer any of this, all they talk about is how to get the right latch and provide stupid demonstrations which bare no resenbalance to what happens in reality to get a baby to latch on and the lovely benefits of breast feeding, well this goes out the window as soon as you've got the baby and it's hell trying to feed them. their not gaining weight and the pressure is on you to find a solution fast for the health of your baby. While a mother is having problems they need one on one support in the home, daily, hourly if needed not an appointment with a feeding advisor at a hospital, not given a bloody helpline number, and not midwives who come armed with scales and growth curves. IMO this would be much more helpful???

[hunkermunker]

Found this thread whilst looking for something else and thought it warranted a bump

[MatNanPlus]

designer label

[hunkermunker]

Yes to women who use Aptamil referring to it by name! Like it was made by God or something.

[MatNanPlus]

yes, tho i prefer C&G as find windy/poop issues more with A & SMA to be honest.

[tiktok]

Interesting, but not surprising, MatNan. Aptamil's packaging is slightly different from other formulas and its price is a little higher. I find women who use it actually talk about 'giving the baby some Aptamil' rather than 'giving the baby some formula'...this is a triumph of marketing, getting this degree of brand identity and brand awareness and loyalty, from a group that actually planned not to ff at all!

There are ads in the healthcare professional journals for Aptamil and Cow&Gate, and the ingredients in both look exactly the same. They are made by the same company. But the way they are marketed, even to healthcare professionals, is different. C&G is a more mainstream formula - cheaper, with brasher colours in the branding, and a kid in the ad; while Aptamil has an abacus with beads on it representing ingredients...slightly more scientific looking, and in soft, sophisticated pack colours.

Aptamil = posh formula
C&G = ordinary formula

Whereas they are (probably) identical

[MatNanPlus]

can you tell it bugs me.

[MatNanPlus]

It almost seems to be the 'norm' to stop nursing by week 8 in these groups and any mum still nursing after this is told how bottles have made their lives soo much better, note that is their lives not the babies!!

[MatNanPlus]

Indeed TikTok. Many will nurse in the beginning but find they are pressured by family and friends into giving bottles of EBM that soon becomes formula

The marketing of A really does seem to influence them into thinking it is better other 'older' brands.

[tiktok]

Interesting, MatNan....I take it you are a maternity nurse so your client group is probably better off than most new mums? This is precisely the sector that Aptamil has geared its marketing to: mothers who are in the social groups more likely to start off breastfeeding. The marketing is consistently aspirational, and it is priced to reach that sector.

[MatNanPlus]

The message i get from FF mum's i work with is that everyone uses Aptamil so it must be good hmm no, it is harder to get in the shops, costs more and dare to be different.

Needless to say these mum's are not being urged by me to FF i am there to 'help' them in the early days and as such have helped mum's with Twins and Triplets to breast feed for many more weeks than they had thought they could/would, but in the face of Peer Pressure, A is often choosen

[lackaDAISYcal]

thanks for posting this hunker...can't believe I haven't seen it until now

lots of really interesting points raised as well

[harpsichordcarrier]

wow, excellent article hunker, thanks for posting

[hunkermunker]

I just want to say thank you for the reasoned responses on this thread. It could have gone very badly wrong and upset a lot of people (and I guess there's still the potential for it to go skewy!) - but I really do appreciate MNers taking the time to post when it is clearly an upsetting and gut-wrenchy subject for so many.

My aim is to raise awareness of this issue - as mummypig says, if you want to buy an MP3 player there's more information out there about it than there is about what you feed your baby in his or her formative months. That's incredibly scary and more people need to realise this and do something about it for things to change.

[EyeballsintheSky]

Me too Hunker. I was never able to establish bf at all. DD had one bottle of ebm about a week in when I finally managed to get about an oz out and she was promptly sick. Anyway, I digress...

Just to prove the point, I am your average ff mother. I know nothing abut formula, only that it's what I have to use if DD isn't to starve. At the hospital they gave her Aptamil. When I got home, I bought Aptamil. When I took her to the clinic in the early days and they asked what I was using, their response was always , 'oh good, that's the best one'.

A bit more time on MN and I have realised why, with regard to the marketing etc. But I wasn't confident about changing it because somewhere inside I really did believe that it was the best one. Why? Because I was given it at the hospital, because it contains 'Immunofortis', because the packaging looks less frivolous than the others and yes, because it's about £3 more expensive. Therefore it has to be better, right?

Fortunately, DD is 6 months next week and her reliance on formula start to lessen, which I am pleased about as I also have issues with her being ff and my own failures in that area.

But what I really wanted to say was, as the ingredients are unintelligible, the use of formula unavoidable for some and energy levels when making these decisions at a low, how the hell are we supposed to tell exactly which is the best. I don't know what the answer is but I feel cheated that my daughter has been fed what has been most marketed, rather than what might have been better for her. And if 'Immunofortis' is the reason that she has had runny poos all her life then I feel awful that I have actively caused her to have diarrhoea.

Sorry, that was more waffly than I wanted but something needs to be done to regulate this.

[mummypig]

Just wanted to thank hunker for posting that article, very interesting. I also wish there were an independent body that could provide comparisons of different baby food formulas. It's crazy that when we buy a fridge, TV or MP3 player we can do loads of research into which is the best for our situation, but when we choose food for our baby there is next to nothing out there. It would be great if some body like Which? could take it on. After all, they do reports on food supplements anyway. But I imagine they are avoiding it because of the potential minefield.

[startingtogetveryworried]

Dont worry hunker, I really admire your work in supporting breastfeeding. I feel much the same about it, hence my discomfort with my own FF.

[hunkermunker]

I think Hipp doesn't contain the oils, but you might want to ring their helpline to establish that.

Agree you need to speak to someone re your feelings around bfing. I'm very, very sorry that the article upset you - it's really not my intention to upset people, more to get the information out there so that people realise more of what's behind the fluffy advertising they so often defend. Again, really sorry it made you feel wretched

[kiskidee]

phone one of the breastfeeding helplines. counsellors are also there to help women past their negative emotional feeling surrounding the loss of their breastfeeding experience.

[startingtogetveryworried]

I am a formula feeder and have had to literally force myself to read that article.

Feel a bit sick really

And Aitch, I completely, completely relate to what you said about aptamil and BF poos. I am in the middle of doing the very same with DD - there is something about those mustard runny poos that makes me think that is what they looked like when she was BF so this MUST be best for her. SICKENING to think that it is actually because of these fats added to milk

I think i need to talk to someone to thoroughly debrief my breastfeeding problems as I can see them haunting me for the rest of my life. I BF'ed until 4 months and I still havent come to terms with it. Even still ocassionally try to latch her on even though a) I have no milk now b) she has absolutely no idea what to do now.

And with all of these unresolved feelings about breastfeeding to find out that I can either feed her shite, shite or shite is just a shit place to be. And I cant even easily found out just how shite the shite is that Im feeding her!

Based on the above article would it be correct to deduce that if you want to avoid these novel oils that Hipp Organic would be a good choice?

While your on here actually hunker and tiktok - I have about 30oz of breastmilk in the freezer, it was expressed 3 months ago. Can I use it, or not?

[wilbur]

V interesting Hunker. I took dha supplements when I was preg and breastfeeding, which I felt was worth doing, and I had noticed that they were now adding it to formula. I wonder whether the supplements I took were from the(fake) source? I'm pretty sure they were from a natural source, but am going to check now. I figure my body decided what to pass on anyway, but it's amazing how little one finds out until afterwards, eh?

[hunkermunker]

Interesting how Charlotte Church gets more thread-space than this, which is infinitely more concerning.

[hunkermunker]

Thank you, TC.

I'm so sorry you feel squirmy, MrsPC It's tough not to blame yourself, but why should it be up to the individual woman to do all the research (especially when it's impossible research to do in many ways, since the info isn't out there, or it's buried in science-speak)?