How to choose milk powder for babies How to choose milk powder for newborns

There are many kinds of milk powder on the market, and the quality is also uneven. We can see that many parents are asking which brand of milk powder is good. Instead of asking others to recommend brands, it is better to learn to distinguish them yourself. Today I will teach you how to choose good milk powder.

Advantages and disadvantages of feeding with formula milk

advantage:

Easy to use - like using milk powder, mothers, nannies or other people can feed the baby at any time and any place.

Free mothers - they can be freed from the constraints of breastfeeding and engage in their own work or other affairs.

shortcoming:

Lack of antibiotics and active substances - even the best artificial milk powder cannot compare to natural breast milk.

Not antibacterial - the bottles and nipples are unhygienic, the milk powder is expired or has quality problems, the water temperature is not high or it is spoiled, or the brewing time is too long, all of which may contain pathogens and be harmful to the baby's health.

High cost - Most good milk powder is imported and expensive. Surveys show that most families who use milk powder spend hundreds of yuan per month on milk powder.

Long preparation time - It takes a long time to prepare milk powder for children, mix it with boiling water, and then cool it to the appropriate temperature. When the child suddenly wants to drink it, it is often either too hot or too cold.

From the perspective of nutritional composition, the protein content in cow's milk is too high, more than 1 times higher than breast milk. However, unlike breast milk, it is not mainly composed of easily digestible whey protein, but mainly casein, which is not easy to digest. Although the fat in cow's milk, namely cream, has a similar content to breast milk, it contains more saturated fatty acids and less unsaturated fatty acids and essential fatty acids needed by the human body. The lactose content in cow's milk is low, less than half of breast milk, which makes the energy ratio provided by the three major nutrients of protein, fat and sugar unreasonable, which is not conducive to the growth and development needs of infants. In addition, the total amount of various minerals contained in cow's milk is too high, which poses a considerable threat to the body of infants whose kidney function has not yet fully developed.

Infant formula milk powder is based on the composition of human milk and uses modern technology to completely transform cow's milk so that it is more suitable for the physiological characteristics and nutritional requirements of infants who cannot eat breast milk. For example, desalted whey powder is added to increase the content of whey protein, so that the content and ratio of whey protein to casein are close to breast milk. High-quality vegetable oil with high content of unsaturated fatty acids and essential fatty acids is used to replace the cream in cow's milk to meet the physiological requirements of infants. Lactose is added to increase the lactose content to make it close to breast milk. Through such transformation, the energy ratio provided by protein, fat and sugar in formula milk powder is appropriate to meet the physiological needs of infants. At the same time, the excessive calcium, phosphorus and sodium salts in cow's milk are removed to make the ratio of calcium to phosphorus, sodium to potassium appropriate. More importantly, the mineral content in cow's milk is reduced to make it close to breast milk and suitable for the physiological characteristics of infants whose renal function is not yet sound.

In addition, some nutrients that are not found in breast milk and cow's milk are added, such as iron, zinc, iodine, vitamin D, vitamin A and other minerals, trace elements and vitamins. In this way, infants who eat formula milk powder can avoid various nutritional deficiency diseases such as iron deficiency anemia, rickets and zinc deficiency. Therefore, for infants who cannot eat breast milk, formula milk powder is the best choice. But in any case, it is still inferior to breast milk. Because it is compared with breast milk in many nutrients, but it cannot reach the level of breast milk in details; more importantly, breast milk contains a lot of immune active substances and cells, which cannot be achieved by the current excellent formula milk powder at home and abroad.

What are the evaluation criteria for truly good milk powder?

The first is the milk source: this is the most important point, milk source is the source of all quality.

There are two main models. One is to purchase raw milk. Sanlu had problems in this link. The milk source was mixed with melamine. The other model is that milk powder companies have their own pastures, and the milk source is well controlled and supervised at the source. At present, the world's best milk source bases are in Northern Europe (represented by the Netherlands, including Denmark, France, Sweden and Norway, as well as Switzerland, Austria and Germany and other Alpine regions) and Australia (represented by New Zealand, including Australia). Almost all the high-quality milk powder we are familiar with comes from these two regions.

The second thing to look at is the professional background of the company, especially its historical traditions.

Because infant formula milk powder is not an ordinary food, especially in developed countries in Europe and America, it is produced and managed according to the requirements of medicines. Every product, every day, every year, is strictly tested and supervised. For ordinary companies, it is fine to survive for three or four years, such as our Sanlu. But to operate for decades or even hundreds of years without major problems under the strict supervision and attention of so many consumers in such a large number of places in the world, it must be very strong and able to withstand the test of quality. Those who saw a number of companies go bankrupt after the melamine incident in 2008 and thought that there was an opportunity in this industry and money to be made, such as Wahaha, Biostime, etc., are pure speculators without long-term strategies. They come to make milk powder to speculate.

It is strongly recommended that you try to use products from large manufacturers with a long history, which are sold in many countries and regions around the world and are professional milk powder manufacturers. At least they can stand the test of time, such as the four major brands, Friso, Meiji and HiPP. In this industry, everything can be fake, but the experience and reputation accumulated over decades are absolutely not fake, just like many fake foreign devils in China, no matter how similar they are, how strong their public relations skills are, or how rich they are, the truth will come out.

The third thing to look at is the recipe:

The management of milk powder is very strict all over the world, so the difference in formula will not be too big. It’s just that different companies and brands, in order to differentiate their products from other products, will intentionally or unintentionally strengthen certain nutrients. For example, among the mainstream milk powder brands in China, Mead Johnson particularly emphasizes that they have strengthened AA and DHA in large quantities; while Nestlé has strengthened the prebiotic combination. Objectively speaking, whether AA and prebiotics have such a great effect, and whether adding more of them is a good thing, are still in the process of demonstration. For consumers, it doesn’t mean much, it’s just a concept they put forward themselves.

Fourth, we need to look at the production and R&D capabilities of the enterprise:

Oranges grown in the south of the Huai River are oranges, while those grown in the north of the Huai River are bitter oranges. The same raw materials, after different production processes, may produce completely different products. This is why when melamine was exposed, many domestic brands used raw material powder from New Zealand, just like foreign brands, but the results were completely different. The most terrifying thing about Chinese companies, especially private companies, is that they are too flexible. The boss says that they dare to do anything to save costs, such as re-dissolving milk and expired milk. However, countries like Japan, Germany and the United States are not only leading in technology in their research and development and production, but more importantly, they are leading in their professional quality and moral concepts. The production lines and equipment are the most advanced in Europe, and they are from the same company as those international brands. They often invite media friends to visit and report, but their mentality is far behind. In order to save costs, the raw material powder that was infested with meat worms due to moisture during transportation was required to be reused. I can't imagine it. So when deciding to buy, you must understand the background, strength, history and reputation of the brand and manufacturer.

What are the misunderstandings when buying milk powder?

Misconception 1: When choosing milk powder, the most important thing is to pay special attention to the ratio of fortified nutrients on the instructions.

Expert clarification:

There is no need to pay too much attention to how much nutrients are contained in milk powder. Currently, the formula milk powder on the market, whether domestic or imported, as long as it is for feeding infants under 1 year old, the nutrients contained in various milk powders are roughly close to breast milk.

Although some brands of milk powder have been fortified with certain nutrients, the added nutrients do not have any effect on infants. In addition to drinking milk, infants over 6 months old also need to eat complementary foods, and many nutrients can also be supplemented in complementary foods. Therefore, when purchasing, parents do not have to carefully select only one or two nutrients. What is more important is to choose formula milk powder produced by reliable quality manufacturers for their babies.

Misconception 2: The more flavorful the formula milk is, the better it is. Not only do babies like the taste, but it is also high in nutritional value.

Expert clarification:

Milk powder originally has a light fragrance and no special smell. Since Chinese people pay attention to color, fragrance and taste in their diet, manufacturers consciously add some aromatic substances such as vanillin and milk flavoring to milk powder to make it fragrant when drinking it to enhance people's appetite. However, aromatic substances can only change the taste of milk powder, but cannot increase the nutrition of milk powder. Therefore, the quality of milk powder cannot be judged only by whether it tastes fragrant or not.

Misconception 3: Babies need a lot of calcium for their growth and development. The higher the calcium content and concentration, the more suitable the formula is for babies.

Expert clarification:

In fact, the calcium content of the raw milk used in the formula milk powder of various manufacturers is not much different. However, in order to find a selling point, some manufacturers add chemical calcium to natural milk, artificially increasing the calcium content of the product. However, too much chemical calcium cannot be absorbed and utilized by the human body. Instead, it will make the stool hard and difficult to excrete. Over time, it will easily precipitate in the human body and even cause stones.

Misconception 4: Babies are prone to getting inflamed when drinking formula milk, and adding more sugar to the milk powder can reduce the heat.

Expert clarification:

Many parents believe that infants who drink formula milk are prone to getting angry, so they always add some sugar to "reduce the heat". Some even pair a spoonful of sugar with a spoonful of formula milk, which is wrong. According to the ingredients of formula milk, it is not necessary to add sugar when drinking. If too much sugar is added, it will lead to unreasonable nutrition, resulting in high sugar in the baby's body, which can easily lead to obesity.

Misconception 5: For babies under 1 year old, as long as they drink enough formula milk, the nutrition is sufficient.

Expert clarification:

Although breast milk or formula can provide most of the nutrients needed for growth and development for babies, it still cannot meet all the nutritional needs. If complementary foods are not added in time, some nutrient deficiencies will occur, such as anemia, zinc deficiency, etc. Therefore, complementary foods must be added to babies according to their age. Gradually add egg yolks at 4 months old; feed vegetable puree at 5 months old; feed fish puree at 6 months old; feed minced tofu, animal blood and liver puree at 8 months old. The addition of these complementary foods can meet the rapid growth and development of the baby's body.

Misconception 6: Feeding babies more rice porridge or other types of food can replace milk powder. For example, mixing milk powder and rice porridge together will provide more comprehensive nutrition.

Expert clarification:

Rice cereal or other types of food cannot provide the nutrition that formula milk provides to babies. Because the main ingredients of rice cereal are carbohydrates, the fat and protein content is insufficient. Without the supplement of formula milk, the nutrition of the baby will definitely not keep up.

In addition, mixing milk powder and rice cereal together may also lead to incomplete protein absorption by infants. It is best to mix milk powder according to the dosage indicated on the milk powder package. Adding too much milk powder will increase the burden on the baby's gastrointestinal tract and kidneys, which is not conducive to the absorption of nutrients; if the milk powder is too diluted, the protein content will be insufficient, affecting the growth and development of the baby. The appropriate approach is to strictly follow the amount of milk and method specified in the formula milk powder to mix the formula milk powder.

Myth 7: You should buy expensive baby formula because the more expensive it is, the better it is.

Expert clarification:

If you carefully study the formula ingredient lists of various milk powders, you will easily find that, in fact, from the perspective of the milk powder formula, the nutritional ingredients are nothing more than those, and the prices of similar products should not be much different.

However, some milk powder manufacturers will take advantage of mothers' consumption mentality and deliberately hype up prices, so mothers should keep their eyes open when choosing.

Generally speaking, imported milk powder is relatively more expensive, but that does not mean that their quality is necessarily better than similar domestic milk powder.

The reason why imported milk powder is expensive is that it has to bear additional costs such as sales, transportation, opening up markets in other places, and tariffs. Domestic milk powder is based on national conditions, people's living standards and price comparisons with various foods, and continues the previous national unified pricing, so the price is relatively lower.