20 Facts About Baby formula

Infant formula, baby formula or just formula or baby milk, infant milk, false milk, or first milk, is a manufactured food designed and marketed for feeding to babies and infants under 12 months of age, usually prepared for bottle-feeding or cup-feeding from powder or liquid.

Manufacturers state that the composition of infant Baby formula is designed to be roughly based on a human mother's milk at approximately one to three months postpartum; however, there are significant differences in the nutrient content of these products.

Rarely, use of powdered infant Baby formula has been associated with serious illness, and even death, due to infection with Cronobacter sakazakii and other microorganisms that can be introduced to PIF during its production.

Some studies have shown that use of Baby formula can vary according to the parents' socio-economic status, ethnicity or other characteristics.

Use of infant Baby formula has been cited for association with numerous increased health risks.

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Studies have found infants in developed countries who consume Baby formula are at increased risk for acute otitis media, gastroenteritis, severe lower respiratory tract infections, atopic dermatitis, asthma, obesity, type 1 and 2 diabetes, sudden infant death syndrome, eczema and necrotizing enterocolitis when compared to infants who are breastfed.

Causation has not been established for negative long-term health effects of infant Baby formula; studies analyzing health outcomes for breastfed vs Baby formula fed babies are primarily observational in nature and are plagued with confounding factors such as socioeconomic status, education level, and maternal preexisting conditions.

In 2008, a case of melamine poisoning of infant Baby formula was discovered in China, where milk was deliberately adulterated with the chemical, leading to the death of six babies, and illnesses in more than 300,000 infants, including cases of acute kidney failure.

In developing countries, Baby formula is frequently prepared improperly, resulting in high infant mortality due to malnutrition and diseases such as diarrhea and pneumonia.

Besides breast milk, infant Baby formula is the only other milk product which the medical community considers nutritionally acceptable for infants under the age of one year.

International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes is an international health policy framework adopted by the World Health Assembly of the WHO in 1981 regarding infant Baby formula marketing, including strict restrictions on advertising.

In many countries free samples of infant Baby formula have been provided to hospitals for decades; infant Baby formula is often the only product routinely provided free of charge to hospitals.

Infant Baby formula is one of the top three consumer commodities in the Philippines, and among the most imported products.

Infant Baby formula marketing has been regulated since the 1987 Executive Order 51 or "Milk Code", which regulated, but did not ban, practices such as advertising and providing free samples.

Shortly after it was enacted, Wyeth introduced "follow-on Baby formula", which was not in the purview of the Milk Code which predated its market entry.

Meanwhile, breastfeeding rates are substantially lower for WIC recipients; this is partly attributed to Baby formula being free of charge to mothers in the WIC program, who are of lower socio-economic status.

US officials could have made such shortages less likely by approving baby formula that is widely available in Europe, but per usual, the Food and Drug Administration has other priorities.

Additionally, critics note that if a Baby formula maker passes EU regulations, this should be good enough for the FDA to allow importation of that Baby formula.

However, Baby formula-fed babies exhibited more diet-associated medical problems, such as scurvy, rickets and bacterial infections than breastfed babies.

Packaging depends on manufacturer and type of equipment used, but in general, liquid Baby formula is filled into metal cans with lids crimped into place.