What ingredients to avoid in Baby Formulas

June 06, 2018

Every parent wants to give the very best available to their child, and this usually starts with the big decision of which formula you should feed your baby. We all know that breast milk is the absolute best for newborns until 6 months old, but sometimes, due to many different reasons we cannot feed our baby fully on breast milk and need to add or substitute with Baby Formula.

Today Ylva Williams, co-owner of the Organic Baby Food Shop and mother of two will share her experience.

“When the first of our two daughters were born, due to low breast milk supply, we started to look infant formula to add to her diet! We had already read a lot on this topic and were honestly worried, to say the least, about the ingredients and production of formulas in the USA.

During our investigations, we kept finding articles based on research that infant formula produced in Europe was of much better quality than the US-based infant formula, which includes ingredients that seemed almost poison to children.

We strongly believe in only feeding our babies organic foods, so we were very surprised to see that even the so-called “organic” baby formulas produced and sold in the US contain very harmful ingredients such as : Sucrose (pure sugar), Genetically modified Soy, Synthetic Nutrients (which can contain very harmful chemicals) Dioxin (can cause cancer), GMO (can cause cancer and organ failure) Melamine (can cause kidney failure in babies).

It seemed almost impossible to get an even organic formula that would not include at least one of the above-mentioned ingredients, which are truly poisoning for babies, within the USA. At this point we were desperate. Thankfully, we had a close family friend who lives in Germany come to the rescue. He was feeding his children Lebenswert and urged us to try it. When we researched Lebenswert, by a company called Holle not only did their formula not include any of the ingredients we were not willing to feed our babies but also stood for Demeter Standards and environmental sustainability. Demeter standards exceed anything we know about the organic farming. We were thrilled! We wanted to feed Lebenswert to our babies, but ran into another problem: It was not sold in the US. After a long online search, we ran into a few suppliers online, but who only sold formulas close to the expiration date, highly overpriced and provided poor service. However, this formula was so great and healthy that we had no other option. This was when we decided to go to Germany ourselves and meet with the Lebenswert manufacturer (Holle) in person to build up a great solution to share with families across the USA!”

Today, the Organic Baby Food Shop imports directly from Germany to our offices in Austin, Texas; Los Angeles, California; New Jersey / New York; and Chicago, Illinois and personally check each shipment before it departs Germany, as well as when it arrives in Texas, California, Illinois, and New Jersey, to ensure the best quality and freshness for your baby.

While nowadays it seems to be nearly impossible to completely avoid exposure to chemicals and toxins, we are what we eat! Limiting dangerous ingredients - especially in the most important stage of your baby's life - is essential to ensure healthy growth and a happy healthy future life.