Even some in the “well-fed is best” camp are often wary of the “chemicals” in infant formula. Like “WTF is it an oligosaccharide? I know it says less than 2%, but should I be worried about Schizochytrium sp. oil?”
No wonder some parents choose European infant formula: We’re told it has far fewer “dangerous additives” than the American version. In fact, a Robert F. Kennedy Jr. fan account recently posted a photo of a baby holding a bottle next to a smiling politician, asking the question ” Do you support Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s move to eliminate high-fructose corn? — which recently got some attention on Instagram and caught the attention of registered dietitian nutritionist Jessica Knurick.
Knurick posted on TikTok that “Dr. “Jess” (she has a PhD in nutrition, so it’s not a dishonest title) often talks about nutrition misinformation and “making America healthy again” ( MAHA) movement, which she categorized as one filled with “charlatans.”
She went on to share some of the comments from the original post, which ranged from “Who allowed this in the first place? Ban it in America!” to “Please ban formula all together! Breastfeeding is for the win!” (As you may have guessed, The last letter is all capitalized).
“A lot of people are pumped up and ready to go,” she said before continuing. “Just one question:
“There is not a single infant formula in the entire United States that contains high fructose corn syrup.”
“High fructose corn syrup contains over 50 percent fructose,” Knurick continued. “The other ingredient is glucose, another simple sugar. “Babies don’t tolerate fructose well, they don’t metabolize fructose well, and breast milk doesn’t have a high proportion of fructose. So, for those reasons, it doesn’t Used in any baby formula they just literally made it up.
But look at many infant formulas, especially those marketed as “mild,” and you’ll find “corn syrup solids” on the label. Sometimes even as the first ingredient. No one is cheering you on, but the confusion is understandable. Please note, “high fructose” is nowhere to be found. It’s not just a mean bug – but that little modifier makes huge The difference is chemical.
High fructose corn syrup ≠ corn syrup
High fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is derived from corn syrup. But corn syrup simply extracts glucose from corn and boils water to make syrup, while high-fructose corn syrup is treated with enzymes that break down the glucose into fructose, the sweetest of the simple sugars. Depending on how the corn syrup is processed, the ratio of glucose to fructose may change. In the United States, HFCS typically contains 42% fructose (such as cereals and baked goods) or 55% fructose (mainly soft drinks).
Glucose is easily digested by the body, while fructose can only be digested by the liver. This is where the saying “HFCs equal bad” comes from, and it’s not unreasonable: digesting too much of these substances can take a toll on your body and be detrimental to your health. Because HFCS is so prevalent in American food culture, its presence has become a medical problem.
Fortunately, this is not a problem with infant formula. Now that we now understand that small modifiers can have an impact on the nutrition of a food, it’s worth mentioning that corn syrup solid is a simple dehydrated syrup that can be added to formula.
But why use corn syrup?
Well, it turns out most formulas don’t. At least not as a main ingredient.
Formula attempts to mimic the chemical properties of breast milk—mainly sugars, amino acids, and fatty acids. Vegetable oils are used to provide fatty acids, and amino acids (the building blocks of protein) can come from ingredients such as milk or soybeans. To replicate the sugars in breast milk, formula companies offer three monosaccharides (simple sugars) to choose from: fructose, galactose, and glucose.
As mentioned before, babies don’t tolerate fructose well, so this is an option. What about galactose?
Galactose is found in milk (including human milk) and combines with glucose to form lactose. This is the most common sugar found in infant formula. If the first ingredient is “milk,” then lactose will do a lot of the heavy lifting calorically. But what about babies with lactose intolerance, sensitivities or allergies? They also need sugar, and that leaves only one viable option: glucose.
So how do we get it?
“Glucose has to come from somewhere,” Knulik explains in another video. “In the U.S., many formulas that eliminate or reduce lactose use corn syrup because corn syrup is a chain of glucose molecules.”
“But isn’t corn syrup banned in European formula?”
Corn syrup and corn syrup solids are indeed banned in infant formula in the EU – although contrary to popular belief, high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) no Generally prohibited at all. (You’ll only see it by another name: “isoglucose” or “fructose glucose syrup (FGS).”
But just like in the U.S., some babies in the EU don’t tolerate lactose well and need “mild” formula. What’s the first ingredient in it? Glucose syrup may come from other sources such as wheat, rice, or potatoes. Chemically, corn syrup and glucose syrup are essentially the same. In fact, in some cases, corn syrup is called Glucose syrup.
There are a lot of things for new parents to worry about when it comes to their babies, but luckily, HFCS in your child’s formula isn’t one of them.
