How to choose infant formula? Which kind of formula is better?

There are many varieties of milk powder on the market, and many are genuine and fake. What should mothers pay attention to when purchasing? How can we choose good milk powder?

What do mothers pay more attention to when choosing milk powder?

Every mother wants to give her child the best, and milk powder has an unchallengeable position in the growth process of every baby; therefore, mothers will be very careful in choosing milk powder. For mothers, how to choose milk powder is a compulsory course; seeing how other mothers choose and accumulating experience is the hard truth.

According to the survey results, 60.33% of mothers will buy milk powder from maternal and child specialty stores, and another 16.25% will choose to buy from shopping malls and supermarkets, so 76.58% of mothers still choose to buy in physical stores. Only 10.28% of mothers buy from overseas agents, so in the minds of mothers, overseas shopping is not the best way to buy.

When it comes to choosing formula milk, 83.93% of mothers consider nutritional content/formula as their primary consideration, which seems to be a consensus. It can be seen that mothers are still very concerned about whether the formula milk they choose can meet the nutritional needs of their baby's growth and development. Secondly, nearly 60% of mothers also pay more attention to the brand.

In addition, more than 90% of mothers who pay attention to the nutritional content/formula of milk powder will first consider whether the baby can digest it; therefore, it is very important whether the formula milk can make the baby's intestines healthy. At present, some milk powder brands have also taken this into consideration and will appropriately add prebiotic combinations during the development to give the baby a healthy intestine.

In addition, improving immunity, balanced nutritional supply, whether it can promote bone growth, and the baby's intellectual development are all aspects that mothers pay more attention to when choosing milk powder.

How to choose good milk powder

The first standard is to look at milk powder advertising

If a product is produced domestically but advertises that it uses 100% imported milk, it can basically be confirmed that it is made from imported bulk powder and produced domestically using the dry method.

The second standard is to look at the milk powder packaging

Look at the first item of the "Ingredient List" on the back of the milk powder packaging can/bag. If it is "raw milk", it is produced by wet process; if it is "milk powder, whole milk powder", it is mostly produced by dry process. Some will be marked with "high-quality milk", which is basically to restore the large bag of powder to milk and then process it into infant powder. In this production process, the raw milk is heated twice, and there is secondary pollution. This is what is usually called dry process wet process.

Four correct selection methods

1. According to age groups. Many milk powders are divided into age groups, such as over 6 months, 1-3 years old, and 3-6 years old.

2. According to the shelf life. Some parents do not pay attention to the shelf life when choosing milk powder for their children. They should choose milk powder closest to the production date.

3. According to the economic strength of parents. If the economic conditions are better, you can choose joint ventures or foreign imports. It is not necessary to choose a certain brand. In fact, as long as it is a regular and large manufacturer, it doesn’t matter what brand you choose.

4. Whether the milk powder is produced by a regular manufacturer.

Four wrong selection methods

1. There is not much difference between brands. There is not much difference between brands. Domestic milk powder is basically of the same quality and level. The price is slightly higher or lower, but the nutritional content is not much different. The quality of foreign or joint venture milk powder is not very different.

2. You can't tell whether the milk powder is good or bad from its appearance. Many parents think that the yellower the milk powder is, the better it is, and it looks like it has more milk, but this is not necessarily true. Some milk powders have natural pigments added to them, which also make them look yellower. Now many milk powders are fortified with nutrients, such as iron, vitamin A, and vitamin D. Because of the fortification of these nutrients, there are some special requirements for storage. For example, some nutrients need to be stored away from light, and some non-transparent materials are used for packaging. You can't see clearly what is inside when you buy it.

3. It is not necessary to include all nutrients. Whether it is domestic or foreign milk powder, as long as it is fed to children under 1 year old, the nutrients contained in it are basically close to breast milk. Some brands fortify carotene, and some fortify vitamin D. Although different brands fortify different vitamins, there is not much difference for children, because in addition to drinking milk, children over 6 months old have to eat other foods. For example, many milk powders do not fortify vitamin B, which does not matter, because children can get it from cereals. Therefore, it is not necessary to choose milk powder that is all-inclusive and has all nutrients. It is enough for the milk powder to have the necessary nutrients. Some milk powders may fortify one or two vitamins, which does not make much difference. When choosing, there is no need to spend too much energy or effort, because many dairy products do not have much difference in quality.

4. No need to select processing technology. The processing of milk powder is a very mature process, which takes a very long time. Whether it is abroad or domestically, their processing is similar. If it can be listed normally and can be approved by the country, its technology is qualified. There may be some differences in the nutritional composition between foreign milk powder and domestic milk powder. The reason why foreign milk powder is very expensive is due to transportation costs, higher profits, and the loss of nutrients during processing may be less, and the retained nutrients may be more, so the price is higher. The price of domestic milk powder is low, of course, mainly because of low cost.

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