Ingredients of formula...

Hi all,

When i was out today i was in the baby section of the chemist and had a look at s26 gold formula, purely out of curiousity, and when i read the ingredients list on the back i was a little confused... (they're listed below)

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Ingredients: Lactose; vegetable oils [palm, coconut, oleic (safflower or sunflower), soybean]; non-fat milk powder; alpha-lactalbumin (alpha protein) enriched whey protein concentrate; emulsifiers (soy lecithin, monoglycerides); long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids from single-cell sources [arachidonic acid (AA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) L-methionine; taurine; nucleotides (cytidine-5'-monophosphate; disodium uridine-5'-monophosphate; adenosine-5'-monophosphate; disodium inosine-5'-monophosphate; disodium guanosine-5'-monophosphate); antioxidants (mixed tocopherols concentrate, ascorbyl palmitate).

Minerals: Calcium carbonate; sodium citrate; magnesium chloride; potassium bicorbonate; calcium hydroxide; calcium chloride; potassium chloride; ferrous sulphate; zinc sulphate; copper sulphate; manganese sulpahte; potassium iodide; sodium selenite.

Vitamins: Vitamin C; choline chloride; inositol; vitamin E; niacin; calcium pantothenate; vitamin A palmitate; vitamin B2; vitamin B1; vitamin B6; vitamin D3; natural carotenes; folic acid; vitamin K; biotin; vitamin B12.

S-26 GOLD ALPHA PRO protein source is alpha-lactalbumin enriched whey and non-fat milk. Contains milk and soy lecithin.

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I was confused as to why there are certain things in baby formula, like: "vegetable oils [palm, coconut, oleic (safflower or sunflower), soybean]; non-fat milk powder"? Does anyone know? I just can't understand why a baby would need something like coconut oil in their milk!

Not trying to pass judgment on anyone who FF, i'm just honestly curious about the ingredients! :redface:

TIA :)

most of those labels are a generic type of thing, they just list everything to cover their butts, and make sure that they won't be sued incase someone suffers an allergy or something.. you know the type of thing... "may contain traces of peanuts"... "made on equipment which makes items containing peanuts" etc... that type of thing... Aricyn is on S26 Gold, and I can honestly say that I have never looked at the ingredients.... as long as he is fed and thriving on the formula, thats all that matters to me!!!

The vegetable oils are healthier in that they aren't full of trans-fatty acids like animal fats. I would think that the different blend of fats are either to get a good consistency or so the vitamins and minerals can be bound to the fat as many are insoluble in water.

It's probably to do with how vitamins are absorbed by the body, some vitamins need fat to be absorbed.

Breast milk has fat in it. Manufactured milk uses fat from other sources, such as plants and animals.

Hi,

formula companies analyse breastmilk and copy it. The truth is, they are some-what limited in their success. Formula is not particularly like breastmilk. Breastmilk requires a complex mix of fats and nutrients. But formula manufacterers also need to make a cost effective product. So, oils such as palm oil are cheap, and also higher in saturated fats. Breastmilk contains cholestrol, which is needed by the baby's growing body
Regards
Barb

palm oil is cheap from a purely financial perspective but the demand for palm oil is fueling the destruction of orangutan habitats so from an environmental perspective it's quite costly (sorry if that's a bit OT)