"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.

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.

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.

wow, excellent article hunker, thanks for posting

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

lots of really interesting points raised as well

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

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.

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.

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!!

can you tell it bugs me.

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

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

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

designer label

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

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???

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.