Yesterday, a reader sent me a link to an article which detailed the outrage in the Mercola community over the announcement this week that his team is working to produce “the finest infant formula on the market.“
An excerpt from Dr. Mercola’s article announcing this development states:
I must admit, that when I first got wind of this news, I was shocked and disappointed. As a Mom who breastfed her first two children for 2 years each and her youngest child for 3 1/2 years, I am definitely in full support of the “breast is best” mentality.
However, I have a very strong practical streak, which is why I also very much support a safe, healthy homemade milk based or hypoallergenic baby formula when a Mom adopts or finds herself unable to breastfeed for health reasons.
It is a very imperfect world, after all, and the best situation of a well nourished Mom who is willing and able to breastfeed is not always possible in the final analysis.
Let’s take this practical line of thought a step further. Suppose a nonbreastfeeding Mom is simply unwilling to take the time and effort to source the quality ingredients required to make the homemade baby formula and insists on buying commercial formula of some kind.
In that case, there is currently no brand of commercial baby formula on the market which qualifies as acceptable in the remotest sense of the word. Even Earth’s Best organic formula is completely unacceptable due to high temperature processing, use of rancid vegetable oils, nonfat milk powder and packaging in BPA laced cans.
With that in mind, Mercola’s commercial baby formula has the potential to fill a real void in the baby formula market if and only if he is able to produce a commercially available infant formula that includes:
- Low temperature dried, whole milk powder
- Coconut oil
- Non rancid, expeller sunflower oil
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Lactose
- Non-industrialized cod liver oil or other natural source of vitamins A/D/K2
- Bifidobacterium Infantis (probiotic)
- Whole foods source of vitamin C such as acerola powder
- Whole food source of B vitamins such as low temp dried nutritional yeast
- Low temp dried beef gelatin
- Non BPA packaging
While such a formula would never come close to the perfection of breastmilk from a well nourished Mother or even the homemade milk based formula using quality, grassfed raw milk, such a commercial formula would certainly be a huge step forward in improving the disastrous quality of infant formulas on the market today.
So, although I am skeptical, I am trying to think positively about this upcoming product release from Dr. Mercola especially since the ingredient list and processing methods have yet to be disclosed.
How do you feel about Dr. Mercola’s announcement? Do you feel that it could be an improvement over what is available commercially today or is this a step backward in the Real Food movement’s press for more Moms to be well nourished and to choose breastfeeding or, at the very least, the homemade baby formula?
Sarah, The Healthy Home Economist
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{ 50 comments… read them below or add one }
Sarah, what about adopted babies? What about babies whose mothers are very ill – or, rarely, the mother who dies? Or mothers of drug addicted babies who are in foster care or maybe returned to their mothers when the mothers recover. There will always be a need for infant formula – even if most mothers are successfully breastfeeding.
That's a good point, Nancy. If Dr. Mercola can produce an infant formula that mimics the homemade formula based on the criteria I listed, then it could be a big help as the ones on the market today are all awful.
I agree with Nancy. As an adopted mom, there were very few options available to me so this has to be a good thing.
Pavil is cynical about Dr Mercola's magic hat. Perhaps a better question might be: How would one prepare their own infant formula ( in terms of a recipe) ?
Hi Pavil, here is a link to the 2 videoblog recipes I did last month on making homemade baby formula:
http://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/search/label/homemade%20baby%20formula
My son was born with a colon that ruptured at birth AND was allergic to my breast milk (even after I changed my diet to avoid allergens) .. this would have been a better option to at least have something other than what was available. We had to buy a 'predigested' formula as that was all he could tolerate. Breast is best .. but there are different situations that warrant an alternative.
This is one case where I'd rather wait to pass judgment until the product is available. I refuse to see Dr. Mercola's quest to produce formula as inherently bad. The "lactivist" community seems to think he's somehow undermining breastfeeding, but the truth of the matter is, there are plenty of babies that WILL be (or HAVE to be) formula-fed, and if there's a chance to get formula that is heads and shoulders above the junk that's currently available (not claiming that his WILL be, but I'm going to take the "wait and see" approach), that's a good thing.
PS – Sarah, I think your list of requirements is spot-on. Those are exactly the things I'd look for if I had to resort to store-bought (or internet-bought) formula.
I think it could be a good thing, but I'm expecting it to be either prohibitively expensive or have compromises, like I know Mercola promotes rice protein powder or whey protein powder for adults (?)
On the topic, what do you think of elemental formulas? I'm just curious.
I am a huge breastfeeding proponent. I breastfed all five of my biological children for at least 18 months. I now have an adopted daughter, and she is formula fed. Breast is best, but I don't have that option this time around. I would very much support a better formula that improves on what is currently available for those who cannot breastfeed.
Why would you include safflower oil in your list of ingredients?
I am not saying it is wrong, I would just like to know why you include it, as it is very high in omega 6 and a modern vegetable oil.
Look again, it is sunflower oil that is included, not safflower. The processing method is also very important with the sunflower. Totally an easy mistake to make at a glance.
Oh my gosh, he's probably going to put his krill oil in it, yikes! (and lol) If he put CLO in it, it would be like downstanding his position on CLO vs Krill oil.
^^ Stanley- It's *sunflower* oil, and babies need omega 6 too, just like we all do, but in 1:1 balance with omega 3. Can't just leave it out of a babies diet.
Stanley, its sunflower oil not safflower. Omega 6 oils are essential – the body cannot make them – they are as important as Omega 3 fats just in the right proportion. It is critical for a good quality, nonrancid omega 6 oil to be included in an excellent quality baby formula (of which there are NONE right now .. maybe Mercola can change that).
Cara, I am not familiar with elemental formulas. What exactly do you mean by the term?
I think this is a necessary product to have on the market. In a perfect world we would all breast feed and have vaginal easy births etc. But the last time I checked… this world is not perfect. We are a judgmental lot tho so I can understand that people open their mouths before they think of the whole picture. It doesn't matter if this formula isn't perfect from one point of view over another… It will be better than what is on the market now for sure.
Well Said!
Elemental formulas are super hypoallergenic, just free amino acids from what I can tell. I don't know much about them, I was curious if you had any thoughts.
My guess is that this new infant formula will be a positive thing. I doubt that most mothers who are familiar with Dr. Mercola and who care about a real food diet are also the type to choose formula over breastmilk unless it is out of necessity. I don't think that this product will actually prevent people from breastfeeding.
Side note: I have never made homemade formula, so I don't know how expensive/labor intensive/portable it is, but maybe Dr. Mercola's formula will be easier for use during traveling, or as a backup source for when a mom who normally makes her own formula just doesn't have the time.
Cara, you mean like nutramigen? I have a friend who used this .. they use soy as the protein source from what I've seen. A soy based formula is not a good choice under any circumstances – the damage does not fully show up until puberty in some cases!
Adoptive mom here. Wish I'd had this option. I was so overwhelmed and ignorant, this would have been a welcome option.
I think if he uses the right ingredients like you suggested, you're right, this will fill a void. I saw a lot of ppl on Facebook upset about this, but when I first read it in his email, I thought this would be a welcome product in the market–of course, depending on how he makes it. I was not outraged at all when I first read about this; I just hope he makes something good.
It is tough when you're out of breastmilk & don't want to use formula, and might not have all the ingredients for homemade on hand. What are you to do, short of hiring a wet nurse or begging another mama for some donated breastmilk?? I'm being a bit facetious here, but I think I'm raising a valid point.
Adoptive moms can induce lactation IF they take the time to do it.(http://www.drmomma.org/2010/04/induced-lactation.html)
IMO, we should be encouraging private breastmilk donations and feeding human babies human milk. I like your list of "must haves" but how much are these must haves going to cost. If a can of Mercola's formula is twice to three times as much as the formulas out there, there is no way that the poor and middle class families will be able to afford it, even if it is the best.
I have heard, in person, twice this week that breastfeeding is gross and the only think I can think is "How old are we, 12"? I have also heard this week that if the kid can walk, talk, and ask to nurse they are to big. Maybe we should be focusing on changing the perceptions of this society instead of working on the best artificial baby milk.
just curious, why are the oils in formula rancid? On purpose?
I do think this formula could fill a void for those who must formula feed or supplement. Personally if I had to use formula, even if it cost much more, I'd be very relieved to see something like this available. Of course before resorting to that I agree that we should be promoting use of donated HUMAN milk (have used that myself and have helped several other mamas do so).
Also, I sense a slightly negative tone in reading that a formula feeding mom may be "simply unwilling to take the time" to make homemade formula. Ideally this would be possible, but not everyone can source raw milk and find and pay for the ingredients. I have had to jump through many hoops to get raw milk for my family and pay a lot of drive far out of my way with multiple kids int he car every week- not everyone, esp. those who may work full time or have lots of family responsibilities can do that.
I'm not sure that he's going to have a large market-It sounds like it will be very expensive, but I don't know much about Mercola.
I have even offered it to moms I know that have had breastfeeding issues, but no one wants it. It makes me sad.
personally I would rather see someone in his position promoting milk banks and donation. In my area there is nowhere to donate extra milk-
i have a whole freezer full at home and no baby to give it to
Of course it's a good thing. Reality is that there are many different instances when people need to use formula. It's good that there will be a better one available soon for those instances!
Hi Sarah!
Great article. I have a 6 week old baby that I am breasfeeding. I have breastfed my other 2 for 2 years.
Could you post a blog about the best foods for a bresfeeding mom to eat, to produce quality milk?
Also, since you know a lot, I know a friend who is also breasfeeding but drinks a lot of soda (regular and diet), I've told her that this could affect her milk quality, but I am not sure how. Could you enlighten me (us) to know what are the possible side efffects of a poor diet (lots of soda)?.
Thanks a lot and keep up the good work.
I love your blog. It reminds me a lot how my mother ate back in Mexico, wholesome foods, home made cooking from scratch and full fat foods. She passed away but she was always healthy and used to eat a lot of broth with the chicken feet or beef broth with bones like you mentioned you made.
Marta Davis
Anynymous: to answer your question, the oils used in formula (and nearly all processed foods) are rancid because of the horrible process used to produce them. These polyunsaturated oils are subjected to high heat, caustic refining, chemicals, bleaching, and deodorization because they smell so bad. All this even before they leave the factory, but they become even more rancid and toxic after they leave the refinery and are added to processed foods (most all contain them, including formula) or brought home in a bottle. These oils are unstable and simply opening a bottle at home usually increases rancidity. Cooking with them adds insult to injury by increasing the already high level of free radicals. Particularly bad ones, unstable and prone to rancidity, are canola, corn, cottonseed, soybean, safflower. It is possible to carefully source some like the sunflower oil mentioned here, and they must be fresh, expeller pressed, cold pressed, not subjected to the typical oil refinery process I summarized above. Have I left anything out, Sarah?
Beth
Marta, you and your friend might enjoy reading these, in addition to the excellent posts on Sarah's blog:
http://www.westonaprice.org/childrens-health/311-diet-for-pregnant-and-nursing-mothers.html
and
https://www.westonaprice.org/childrens-health/332-modern-baby-books.html
Beth
Sarah & others, what would be a good substitute for coconut oil in a formula? My 1st grandson died 2 days after birth due to a genetic defect, a fatty oxidation disorder (FOD). He had a missing or defective gene to break down medium chain fatty acids. My granddaughter was born 6 weeks ago and does not have the FOD, although she is a carrier. Each child my son and his wife have has a 1 in 4 chance of having the full blown defect. For a person with this type of disorder, cononut oil is out completely. Supplementing with formula is required as the baby cannot go w/o food past 2 hours, and colostrum is not enough, as we learned with Ezekiel's passing. It is more complicated than I will explain here, but any suggestions you might be able to share would be helpful. While Abigail was in the hospital, Lydia (my DIL) had brought and used Earth's Best organic formula with her doctor's okay until the testing came back confirming that Abigail did not have the FOD. Next time it would be nice to have a homemade formula, but it would have to be w/o coconut oil or other medium chain fats. Thanks.
As the completely overwhelmed mother of twin girls a year ago I would really liked to have had a better choice of formulas. I started breastfeeding but my milk did not come in for almost 2 weeks and my babies became dehydrated, didn't pee for 4 days and didn't poop for 5 until I started supplementing. Since I wasn't the one going out to buy the formula I just relied on the store brand soy based formula as my older kids couldn't tolerate cow's milk.
As it turns out, the twins didn't tolerate soy. Go figure. As hard as I tried to solely breastfeed my twins, it did not work out and I had to supplement. I was disheartened as I had no problem breastfeeding both of my older children.
The twins were term babies and perfectly healthy and born at home, but did not gain weight adequately without supplementation. And since I had little helpful support and was pretty much doing this on my own, there was no way I was going to be able to make my own formula, even if I had known about such a thing at the time.
I only started reading about Weston Price and real foods, etc in the past couple of months. I have an intermittant supply of raw goat's milk and at this point the girls are a year old so I am getting them off of "formula" and giving them real milk during the day. They only get formula at night because it is more convenient. We still nurse about twice a day but this is more for comfort than anything else.
When breastfeeding proponents talk about formula feeding as if the mothers who choose this path are lazy or self-centered, not willing to do the "best" for their child, uneducated, etc., it is demeaning and offensive. As a nurse and nurse practitioner who has worked with new mothers and in the neonatal ICU as well as being a mother of twins, I can say from personal and professional experience that although breastmilk is ultimately the best choice, it is just not always possible. And while making homemade formula is a wonderful substitute, this is not always practical or possible for many people. Most of us have (had in my case) no idea this is even an option. In fact, my own knowledge about homemade formula was that it was made with corn syrup, vitamins and evaporated milk back before commercial formula was available. And that didn't sound any better to me than powdered formula.
fortunately, I now know this is an option and I will certainly present this as such to my patients and any friends who may be making this decision. Perhaps our focus should be on educating people about the real variety of options for feeding their babies without judging them for their choices. Feeding babies is not generally a moral decision that needs to be judged. We all want what is best for our children. And as a kid who was raised on formula herself, I know that I lived through it very well , thank you!
Beth, that is an excellent summary of the rancid oils in processed foods as well as commercial baby formula today. I appreciate you stepping in to answer – I sometimes have trouble keeping up with all the comments as well as the emails!
Hi Corinne, I am so sorry to hear the sad story about your grandson. I am not well versed enough in this particular genetic disorder to recommend a safe alternative. I suspect a homemade formula would be the best bet though so you could tailor it to the specific needs of the child.
I am the person who is wholly responsible for igniting the backlash against Dr. Mercola on the morning of Oct. 18th with the following letter, which I also posted as my status update, and to the Wall of his fan page here on Facebook :
I have been a very vocal supporter of yours for YEARS. However, as a prominent lactivist & child health advocate with a large network here on Facebook, and having read this morning about your upcoming powdered infant formula to hit the market in a year's time, you should know that I will now be pulling my support for you entirely.
That, coupled with your wishy-washy stance on infant genital cutting, makes it clear to all (or it should), that infant health is clearly NOT your concern; getting the lion's share of the formula market, however, is.
If you truly cared about infant health, you'd inject some of your burgeoning fortune into *breastfeeding support* in your country, instead of adding to the detriment that ALL breastmilk substitutes have on infants who consume them.
Disappointed beyond words in Montréal,
-Emma Kwasnica
Incidentally, I never received a response from him, and I was banned from his fan page and had my letter and all my comments deleted from his page, without a word, on the evening of Oct. 18th…
CONT'D
(for the rest of the commentary, please see my note on Facebook :
http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=443230454914 )
I am with Lizabeth above. I have three kids, my older son weaned himself at 10 months due to reasons beyond my control. I gave him soy formula because I am very lactose intolerant and didn't want him to have the same problems. Now he is living with the consequences and it's too late. I did the best I could with the resources and information I had at the time, and had there been an excellent formula available I would have used it. Raw milk isn't an option due to lack or transportation and living in the inner city. So, yeah, I breast fed the other two till almost 5, stand ready to help any woman any time with lactation issues. But a great, healthful formula can only be a good thing.
Despite nursing 'round the clock every hour with my daughter, her skin was sagging on her tiny body from my lack of breast milk. It was switch to formula or watch her starve because no matter what I did, I could NOT make enough milk after 3 months post partum.
I ordered Radiant Life and planned on making her homemade formula…until I saw the prices of the ingredients…
To be honest, I don't believe marketing a formula prevents women from breast feeding. If you really wanna breast feed, you will! Great support and continued education will help, not ripping formula out of the hands of desperate mothers who don't have another option.
don't you think he'll use whey protein powder, since he believes in it, when prepared "correctly"?
Hi Mama Bean, I think he will use low temp dried whole milk powder, not plain protein powder. I could be wrong there, but am trying to expect good things!
What about milk banks? Why aren't we encouraging their development and use? And here's a shocking idea, what about not adopting babies in the first place? The infant adoption industry in the United States is rife with corruption and abuse; we should be in favor of family preservation rather than undermining young women before they even get the chance to find out whether they would be good mothers. And don't get me started on international adoption, either; you have no way of knowing what (who) you're getting or whether they were actually kidnapped and trafficked for money. If you're going to adopt, adopt older kids out of foster care, and then you wouldn't have to worry about how to feed them.
Not adopting babies is an outrageous statement! In the States “baby trafficking” is no longer a problem (abortion excess and police crackdowns on bad lawyers / an informed public took care of that). Internationally, many Eastern European countries are now cracking down – it is actually very hard to adopt a healthy infant.
The biggest problem with international adoptions, especially with older children, is that the Adoptive Parents are unaware (or deliberately blind) to potentional serious physical and behavioral health problems. IMHO, it should be REQUIRED that ALL adoptive children of speaking age be seen by a medical doctor / psychologist who can communicate with the child in his / her native language. In NY there is a Russian pediatrician and a Russian child psychologist who specialize in adopted children.
Personally, I want to adopt older children from Eastern Europe because they live in deplorable conditions and once they become teenagers they are thrown out on the streets and most become prostitutes or join gangs. I have no interest in removing healthy babies from their native countries, and many of the countries are limiting baby adoptions to native adoptive parents only (only releasing babies who are not adopted within a certain amount of time in the orphanage), due to extremely low birth rates in the populations at large.
Yes, adopting older US foster children is a good idea, but that has it’s own problems, since many foster kids cannot legally be adopted by their foster parents, leaving the kids in legal limbo and many foster / adoptive parents heartbroken.
As for adopting American newborns / infants, that alone is NOT an EASY task! There just is not an over-supply of American babies out there! I believe adoption is a much better option than abortion, and the birth mothers who choose to do so are very brave. I do not believe that birth mothers should be “persuaded” into giving up their baby after birth just because her chosen adoptive parents “really want” to become parents, though.
I have two cousins who adopted American babies. The first one was just “lucky” as she was a teacher and she found out that there was a high school girl who was pregnant and wanted to give the baby up for adoption, and the girl chose my cousin. Very rare situation. My other cousin chose to adopt a high-risk baby, born to a mother on drugs who already had 5 kids and whose husband was in jail. She was just EXTREMELY LUCKY that baby turned out totally normal (she agreed to take the baby no matter what before he was born).
I think he has turned in to a very greedy rich man. If he really cared, he would not mark up the formula much above cost. But this will not be the case. He will price it outrageously high like every other thing he sells. He is just trying to get in on a big share of the market. I love the idea of a healthy natural formula but not from him.
For goodness sakes, he’s selling a badet for $69 right now!!
You can buy the same thing for less than $20 at a hardware store.
You have got to be kidding me! How can you say “what about not adopting babies in the first place?” Have you stopped to think about these babies that did not ask to be concieved, but thankfully the mother chose NOT to kill them but give them life? How about the people that would love to have children & for some reason are unable to? Don’t you realize how many people have made fantastic parents because someone made the VERY difficult decision to let someome else parent their child instead of a. murder them before they even drew a breath or b. struggled & was unable to give that child the life he/she deserved.
No, I have not given up a baby for adoption nor have I ever adopted a baby. However, I am a huge believer in both of these if the birth mother or baren parent so chooses.
I do know of several couple that have adopted internationally. They all say that the conditions of these orphanages are not the greatest. These children have been given a second chance in life & spared from who knows what. Most of them say they would like to take all the orphan’s home. How dare you make such a statment as to say “what about not adopting babies in the first place?”
Here’s a question for Sarah, the Healthy Home Economist: We have a young lady living with us that has a 3 month old daughter. She tried breastfeeding & it just didn’t work. She is now on Gerber gentle start formula. She did fine on it at first, but now for the past 3 weeks she can’t seem to have a bowel movement on her own. The Dr. said to give her 2 oz of prune juice every day. She will have one dirty diaper 2 hours after the juice & won’t go again until 2 hours after she has the juice again the next day. This is so frustrating. My friend told me about homemade baby formula & that’s why I am researching this for her. She works full time & is struggling to buy diapers & formula as it is. Is the recipe expensive to make? Please help, Little Emma seems so miserable & I think sleeps too much for a 3 month old. She’s not as alert as my kids were at this age (I exclusively breastfed). Please help if you can. I watched your video & see the recipe, my concern is that she won’t be able to afford the ingredients.
Hi Sherbear, the homemade formula would be the absolute best way to go. I know the ingredients can be pricey compared to the cheap store formulas, but consider the reduction in illness and the health of the baby long term. Much money will be saved in the long term from providing good nutrition from the start. If the baby is constipated this shows that the baby’s bowel flora is messed up and far from being balanced. The homemade formula will help with this considerably as there is a probiotic in the ingredients list.
I think it’s fine that Mercola makes “the best formula on the market”. And it’s true “breast is best” also. However, not every mother can breastfeed (or breastfeed exclusively), so it’s nice to have something else to fall back on!
It would be ideal if the mother could fall back on a raw milk formula, like the one that Weston Price suggests, however, raw milk isn’t always available everywhere in the world, making the formula isn’t always convenient to travel with, and sometimes baby pops out before we’re able to organize ourselves to make it.
So having said that, I think it’s okay that Mercola is making this product, as long as he promotes breastfeeding and homemade formulas as the optimal solutions. His product would be a good backup plan. So in other words, there’s no reason to be mad or disappointed.
I’m facing a difficult question, one of my clients in California is currently making their own formula using goat’s milk for their 6 months old baby. However, due to the radiation they want to know if they should continue feeding the homemade formula or introduce store bought. I can only say what I would do in my situation and I not tell them what to do…I raised babies in Europe and I am not familiar with brands here, so I wonder if they decide to buy formula, which one is the least evil so to speak?
Jo at Jo’s Health Corner\’s last post: Quick and Easy Grain and Dairy Free Breakfasts
Sarah, I noticed several negative comments on this post. It is so clear to me that you are very understanding toward those who must substitute for breast milk. You clearly are hoping that the formula DOES fulfill the need it is promising. It seems a sensitive topic can stir up emotions. Thanks for looking objectively at the products offered even by our “heroes”.
It is so frustrating to read negative posts that insist everyone can breastfeed, even adoptive mothers. I have a 3 week old baby and I successfully breastfed my other 3 kids. There is nothing I would like more. It was a traumatic birth, I have hormone issues, and only can pump 1 oz of my milk at a time. And baby will not breastfeed. So of course I have to supplement. And there are plenty of other moms like me, heartbroken that we can’t get it right. It does not always work, and I wish other moms would be more supportive.
Breast milk from banks is pasteurized so basically ruined. And you haven idea how much fast food, fake colors, bad meats, corn Syrup, or msg the mom has eaten. It’s also very expensive and you have no co trol over the chain of custody or food safety issues.
I would buy mercolas formula if it were for sale. And I am gathering the ingredients for the homemade formula. Thank goodness that there are people out there trying to help us feed our babies well.
I’m prettymuch in the same boat as you, I LOVE nursing babies but I have tons of issues with it, and have had to use formula this time since week two (fortunately I got to keep nursing part time alright). We use Baby’s Only, the current best on the market, but I would gladly switch to whatever I can that is the best to offer for my child. During a supplemental time with my 3rd child I made formula, but since that hasn’t been a good option for us this year, I am thankful for people developing better formulas.
Um I know this is an older posts and I remember well the drama this situation caused, but you are aware that finding informal mother-to-mother donation of FRESH breastmilk is now much much more common thanks to the likes of Eats on Feets http://www.eatsonfeets.org/ and Human Milk For Human Babies http://www.hm4hb.net/index.html as well as Milk Share http://milkshare.birthingforlife.com/ (Love you Emma!) Since it is donation and almost always from a mother you not only can meet but screen personally for health/disease/diet/lifestyle/etc., this is not only a superior choice over any formula but much cheaper- aka FREE (well it’s expected you provide storage bags but those come back to you lol)!