Most baby formula is made from cow’s milk that has been modified so that it suits your baby’s nutritional needs. But it’s not the same as cow’s milk. Condensed milk is not an appropriate food or beverage for infants. This milk product has a high sugar concentration and similar disadvantages to whole cow’s milk. It is made by adding sugar to whole cow’s milk and then evaporating water from the milk. When undiluted, this milk contains seven times the carbohydrate content of evaporated whole milk.
Breast milk is the optimal source of nutrition for the infant but, when breast milk is not available, iron-fortified infant formula is an appropriate alternative for the infant’s first year of life. The formula is food which purports to be or is represented for special dietary use solely as a food for infants by reason of its simulation of human milk or its suitability as a complete or partial substitute for human milk.
A variety of infant formulas are available for healthy, full-term infants who are not breastfed or partially breastfed. These include cow’s milk or soy-based infant formulas (iron-fortified), hypoallergenic infant formulas, and other infant formulas designed to meet the nutritional needs of infants with a variety of dietary needs (e.g., lactose-free or Kosher).
Milk-Based Infant Formula
The most common infant formulas consumed by infants are made from modified cow’s milk with added carbohydrate (usually lactose), vegetable oils, and vitamins and minerals. Casein is the predominant protein in cow’s milk. Since the primary protein in breast milk is whey protein, rather than casein, some milk-based infant formulas have been altered to contain more whey.
Iron-Fortified Infant Formula
Iron-fortified cow’s milk-based infant formula is the most appropriate milk feeding from birth to 12 months for infants who are not breastfed or who are partially breastfed.
Soy-Based Infant Formula
Soy-based infant formulas were developed for infants who cannot tolerate infant formula made from cow’s milk. These infant formulas contain soy protein isolate made from soybean solids as the protein source, vegetable oils as the fat source, added carbohydrate, and vitamins and minerals. Soy-based infant formulas are fortified with the essential amino acid methionine, which is found in very low quantities in soybeans
Hypoallergenic Infant Formula
A number of infant formulas have been developed and marketed for infants with allergies or intolerances to milk or soy-based infant formulas or those with a family history of allergies. Infant formulas manufactured and labelled for infants with allergies vary in the degree to which the allergy-causing protein has been modified.
Lactose-Free Infant Formula
Lactose is the major carbohydrate in cow’s milk-based infant formulas. Lactose intolerance may lead to excess gas, diarrhoea, or fussiness. A very small number of infants produce insufficient amounts of lactase, the enzyme needed to break down lactose.12 Congenital lactase deficiency is extremely rare. Premature infants may have lower levels of lactase than term infants, proportional to their degree of prematurity since lactase activity develops during the last trimester of pregnancy.
