Sneaky formula companies

I usually buy DS baby cereal - I tried adult weetabix and after one weetabix poo he is back on the baby mush. I usually buy him organic packaged stuff (I don't like getting him pre-made things so that's a compromise) and usually go for Organix or Babynat over HiPP organic as I don't like how HiPP markets the follow-on formula everywhere.

However, out of cereal yesterday so I stop in at the local new-age pharmacy (we have an old-style pharmacy, the new-agey one with the chiropracter and that sells essential oils and organic things, and the homeopath with their remedies) for baby food. They are out of the Organix breakfasts and babynat only does pots, bit expensive for everyday! That's fine, they have in HiPP stuff, we can have that as a one-off. I check it out - makes a mush with milk/water, suitable from 4 months so no hidden nasties... I get it home to find there is a hidden nasty. In very, very small print on the ingredients (which I should have checked in the shop, I know, but grumpy babies and time to do this...) and most of the ruddy thing is follow-on milk powder, 46% of the cereal! I bought my baby a breakfast, not formula! How dare they sneak formula into breakfast cereal?

What if DS has an allergy to formula? Surely it should have CONTAINS FORMULA in big print on the front of the thing? Should I complain to HiPP about it, or only if DS has a reaction?

Worst thing is, DS wants his breakfast and we have nothing else in to give him, so I'll have to give him that this morning. Really narked about that.

I'm assuming they would do that so if you mix it with boiled water only, it has some milk in it - not an ulterior motive as such kwim? Often when you buy dry foods like that for adults there is already milk powder in it, and this is just the same, only they are using that instead of dry cows milk powder. And I"m not defending them at all, but that's just what I think the reason would be.

Yes, but his other cereal has no milk. He doesn't need follow-on milk. I'm feeding him formula with a bit of fruit in (4% fruit)... that's NOT banana and mango breakfast, that's fruit-flavoured follow-on milk on a spoon.

I do think if DS couldn't tolerate cow formula then we'd be in trouble and the pack should be clearly labelled with a warning.

I think that's disgusting Ryn! I would be annoyed in the extreme to buy something that was only actually half what it says it it!

Sherie, I see what you're saying, but I wouldn't have thought that it's necessary. If it's a cereal for babies, then shouldn't they assume that a baby would be getting it's milk from elsewhere? Not from a cereal? I do understand where you're coming from, but surely they need to be more specific with baby food labelling. There are people who wish their babies to have no formula........how disappointing to find that they'd fed it to their bub inadvertently in their breakfast.

BTW, DS had less interest in that cereal, it tasted bland and boring AND it didn't look or smell as nice as his usual one.

I just keep thinking what if that was a 4m old baby, no formula and had a reaction. When the mum went to the hospital she may not realise her baby had been eating formula.

I'm not anti-formula and DS has had formula, but when I gave it I always knew in advance I was buying formula, making the bottle, giving formula. To sneak it in like that is pretty poor showing.

Did you know you can get weetbix for kids? I don't particularly like any packaged stuff due to all the hidden ingredients. Most stuff has over 50% fruit juice!!! this is meant to be a no, no. Anywho just thought I'd suggest it as it something other than just the baby cereal. My DS loves his weetbix.
But I totally know what you mean. I'm not happy with any of the food lables, I spend what seems like for ever in the baby food section when I know I need to get some jar stuff for DS for just incase or when we go out. I read the front, from 6months on & lamb with vegies....seems ok. Then you look on the back & it's made of fruit juice & where's the lamb??? sorry off track, I'm just fed up with not being able to find something for DS to eat.

I think it too is sneaky & they should let you know all ingredients & so on therefore you can make your own decision as to if you use it or not. But in regards to a bubs having a reaction I would be more worried about a hidden food than formula, if a bubs can't be BF then they are FF. It's less likely for them to have a reaction to that or we wouldn't feed the Formula IYKWIM.

I would write a letter to the company that makes the cereal and let them know how you feel that the labelling should be clearer. Did they say what type of formula they used? If my daughter was lactose intollerant I guess I wouldnt have bought the product with milk in the ingredients.

It is on the packet, just not upfront. It's just annoying me. And, tbh, if it were 2-3% formula it wouldn't bother me, most food has 2-3% dried milk in. But it's half formula and one third rice. I have in baby rice if I'd wanted DS to have that for breakfast. It's 4% fruit, which it is labelled as.

I hate the "sweetened with grape juice" stuff too. DS likes normal food!

BTW, the hipp website has this stuff on, you can see the labels and marketting:

"A delicious blend of organic ground rice with banana and peach. Just add water
HiPP organic dried recipe, gluten free and suitable for your baby from four months"

and

"HiPP Organic Dried Recipe, gluten free and suitable for your baby from four months
A delicious blend of organic semolina with peach and banana. Just add water.
You can buy the HiPP Organic Peach and Banana dried recipe in the UK by the case of 6 x 230g packs or as part of a mixed case of our dried baby food recipes direct from the HiPP Shop. Delivery is free too!"

Where does that say formula? On the back of the packet it says "baby's usual milk or water", thus distancing from added formula even more. The ingredients are hidden away on the website too. Yes, you can find them, but you can also buy without seeing them.

Hi,
In terms of the practicalities of what to give your son for breakfast tomorrow - we are VERY fixated in our culture about what we consider "breakfast" Your son won't care what healthy food he has for breakfast. He can just as easily breakfast on pumpkin or fruit, or my personal favourite - boiled rice (ie boiled to a sloppy consistency). About a billion Chinese babies will agree with me. he might even enjoy the change!
Barb

Or porridge Ryn - DD LOVED her porridge from about 6 months on (made with my milk or with cow). You can also (my German friends do this) go to a healthfood shop and buy lots of different flours - rice flour, oat flour, millet flour, sorgum flour - you name it, and use it to make into a smooth porridge (just add milk or water and heat gently) then add fruit or veggies or whatever to change the flavours or let him try it plain. DD LOVED this approach and i still give her oat or millet flour puree if she gets and upset tummy (plain).

Real brand Weetabix has quite a lot of salt in it - JIC you do use it in an emergency.

Bx

Barb, DS is currently refusing all vegetables and a lot of fruit - his diet is mostly carbs and the odd bit of meat. He'll have apple or pear, but reluctantly. His breakfast and his pudding are the 2 occasions I get his fruit in there.

He does like porridge, why am I so dumb as to not think of these things?

I'm more annoyed at stealth HiPP formula than anything else, if I knew it was formula when I bought it I'd not be upset.

Well, take it back and let them know! It is very irritating.

I guess if it is there on the labelling then you would have no recourse to complain - so long as it is on the label somewhere then their job is done kwim? This applies to any food labelling - how often do you see in fine print on a package "may contain nuts" - heaps of times, but it is always in small print. It is up to us to read the labels carefully to make sure that there is nothing in it we don't like. I do agree though that in some instances the labelling should be clearer, particularly in products intentioned for children.

Indah has boiled rice for breaky most mornings....
When we were in Bali our usual brekky was... Rice, chilli tuna, seaweed, a boiled egg recooked in a tomato chilli sauce, a piece of chicken, some other spicy vegies & tofu/tahu???

The kids ate this too & Indah is a real Asian in that regard, eats anything spicy & with stacks of rice... If I dish up cereal, toast or something in the morning she will push it aside & about 20mins later ask for Nasi (Indonesian for Rice). She then has some fruit after that & with things like bakedbeans she has to have RICE with it! LOL

But I do see what your saying!!!

You could email Hipp and complain Ryn but you might find they send you freebies you don't want as an apology. I used their organic formula when i had to wean and i promise you DD is fine and way ahead in her development. I do know what you mean about it not being explicit enough on the labels but i think they tend to put on the things kids might be allergic too, like gluten/nuts etc. and not so much the formula. The formula they use is instead of powdered milk that other companies sometimes use, and from their point of view (since they manufacture it) it makes far more sense i guess to put that in than milk powder. Most of the ready-made powdered cereals contain milk powder so one can make them up with water. In fact as a general rule if ANYTHING you're buying says "just add water" it probably has powderd formula or milk in it, even, as you've found, if it says "baby's normal milk OR water". I tended to have a box in the cupboard for mornings (or evenings or whenever) when time was short or the cupboards were a bit bare. At least it wasn't a big list of E numbers you didn't see!

Bx

I honestly do not mind the fact the formula is there or giving DS a bit of formula, I just want to make a decision to give my son formula or not. I do hear you on the e-numbers; DS goes hyper on E122, in all the painkillers.

I went to the pharmacy; their supplier stopped doing the Organix breakfast in favour of HiPP so they are going direct to Organix now - I pointed out the formula and the minimal fruit content. I am also going to write to HiPP when DS has his afternoon nap about their marketing - it's the sneakiness that alarms me more than the formula. If I get freebies, well, enough of my friends bottlefeed and may be glad of these thing. But adding EBM to a mixture that is 46% formula is dangerous for a baby's digestive tract, that is another upset.

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But adding EBM to a mixture that is 46% formula is dangerous for a baby's digestive tract, that is another upset.

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Eh? Why is adding EBM to ANyTHING dangerous?

Bx

EBM shouldn't be added to formula, it damages the baby's digestive tract because it's too calorie dense and heavy. You can add EBM to liquid formula but not powdered formula.

????????????????????

What if a baby has EBM and then straight away has powdered formula? Gee, Nicholas is going to be one stuffed up kid.

No, that's formula made with water and is fine. Powdered formula made up with breastmlk is dangerous. Sorry for not explaining that properly.

Sorry Ryn, completely misunderstood what you were saying hun! I think I'm on the same page now ;)

If it had formula in it and then says add baby's usual milk and mix, what if usual milk is formula? Then as you said Caryn, its flavoured formula. I agree that is very sneaky. Send a label to the Food and Drug Authority or similar in England. They should be aware that it contains replacement milk and not ordinary powdered milk, which shouldn't be given to babies. It should say somewhere on the box, clearly that it contains replacement baby milk.

So all foods which contain powdered milk and are designed to be mixed with "baby's normal milk" are damaging? That can't be right Ryn, how would it get through labelling standards? Almost every baby cereal on the market is dangerous?

Also when i worked at Yorkhill (childrens hospital) the PA who shared my office was the PA to the feeding clinic (for very underweight/overweight/tube-fed kids) and the first step with an underweight child is to start adding powdered formula/milk to foods to increase calorie density. Only if that fails do they move you onto a rx for special drinks etc.

Bx

It's sneaky. I've been in chronic sleep deprivation this last week (like many mums) so when I went into the chemist I checked the front and back of the new packet. The front has a picture of bananas, a peach, rice and a jug of milk with the words "organic banana and peach breakfast" on. The back says to mix with water or milk. In the small print on the side hidden away it says to make with water only and that it is half formula. I am upset that because I had to keep my son napping I couldn't read the labels thoroughly (he has been up every 1-2 hours overnight whether I feed or not and needed walking back to sleep irrespective of if he had fed or not... we finally got some sleep last night) and I was lucky I looked at the pachet again ad hadn't expressed milk the night before.

DS's normal cereal has 10% powdered milk, not nearly 50%. It is 36% fruit, not 4%. OK, so 36% isn't loads but it isnine times more than this one. From what I saw in the shop, I expected at least 25% fruit, a fair bit of rice and a splash of milk - not nearly half formula.

My son does not need fattening up, the extra calories in this way could be detrimental to a healthy baby. Yes, he's a smidge on the thin side, but so are DH and I.

Plus (can't believe I forgot my main point!) breastmilk is ALIIIIIVVVE! It liiiiives! It contains antibodies. Powdered formula has in all the prebiotic and probiotic guff (OK, not guff in formula milk but guff in adult diets, our stomachs don't absorb them and most "bloating" clears up in 2 weeks anyway). Antibodies. Probiotics. What happens when these two get it on? (OK, I am still tired but DS only does 30min naps atm so not worth me naping as DH is fishing so I'm on my own again). Anyway, they won't help Baby, they will fight each other. In Baby's stomach. A one-off may be OK but not over a few days.

I would happily make DS's breakfast with formula, or add formula to his food if he needed it. But he doesn't and I am upset that this has been sneaked into his food. He doesn't even have HiPP normally.

He had his normal cereal with half water and half EBM this morning - we went to the supermarket yesterday.