WATER: May contain high levels of fluoride.

CORN SYRUP: Contains glucose. Mother's milk contains lactose as the main carbohydrate. Not all brands of formula contain lactose.

SUCROSE: Contains no lactose. The wrong sugar for babies.

SOY OIL: Processed using high temperatures and chemicals, bleached and deodorized. Likely to be rancid.

WHEY PROTEIN: High temperature processing likely to destroy fragile whey proteins.

SOY PROTEIN ISOLATE: Highly processed, contains phytoestrogens that can adversely affect baby's hormonal development and depress thyroid function. Does not have GRAS status.

CARRAGEENAN: Extremely hard to digest. In most ready-mixed formulas, carrageenan is one of the main causes of digestive disorders in formula-fed infants, not lactose-intolerance. Caused liver problems and retarded growth in rats.

SOY LECITHIN: Extracted from the soy oil sludge. Likely to be high in pesticides.

SYNTHETIC VITAMINS: Often have the opposite effect of vitamins naturally occurring in food.

FREE GLUTAMIC ACID (MSG) and ASPARTIC ACID: Neurotoxins formed during processing of milk and soy protein powders. Levels are especially high in hypoallergenic formulas.

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Most commercial formulae are based on cows' milk, which has to be modified for infant consumption. The protein and mineral content have to be reduced and the carbohydrate content increased, usually by adding sugar. Milk fat is hard to absorb, particularly with an immature digestive system and it is removed and substituted with vegetable, animal or mineral fats.

Vitamins and trace elements are added, but not always in their most easily digestible form. So in a crude sense the formulae could claim to be ‘nutritionally complete' having the full complement of vitamins and minerals added to a nutritionally inferior product.

Many formulas are also highly sweetened: most contain high levels of types of sugar such as lactose (milk sugar), fructose (fruit sugar), glucose (also known as dextrose, a simple sugar found in plants) and maltodextrose (malt sugar).

Formula may also contain unintentional contaminants introduced during the manufacturing process. Some may contain traces of genetically engineered soya and corn.

The bacteria Salmonella and aflatoxins – potent toxic, carcinogenic, mutagenic, immunosuppressive agents produced by species of the fungus Aspergillus, have regularly been detected in commercial formulas, as has Enterobacter sakazakii, a devastating foodborne pathogen that can cause sepsis (overwhelming bacterial infection in the bloodstream), meningitis (inflammation of the lining of the brain) and necrotising enterocolitis (severe infection and infl ammation of the small intestine and colon) in newborn infants.

In 2004 the World Health Organisation issued a statement clarifying the dangers associated with E.sakazaki: "Intrinsic contamination of powered infant formula with E.sakazakii and Salmonella has been a cause of infection and illness in infants including severe disease, and can lead to serious developmental sequelae and death", While pressure groups continue to call for the industry to implement risk labelling systems, these calls are ignored,

The packaging of infant formulas occasionally gives rise to contamination with broken glass and fragments of metal as well as industrial chemicals such as phthalates (phthalates, a chemical used in the production of plastics, was recently found in all 15 brands of infant formulas tested by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food(1) (MAFF) in Great Britain. Nine of the brands tested contained levels approaching those high enough to result in reduced sperm counts in rats. 1. MAFF, 1996. Food surveillance information sheet number 83. Phthalates in infant formulae. UK Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.) and bisphenol A (both carcinogens) and, most recently, the packaging constituent isopropyl thioxanthone (ITX; another suspected carcinogen).

Infant formulas may also contain excessive levels of toxic or heavy metals,including aluminium, manganese, cadmium and lead.


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