Flavored formulas

On April 1, 2010, J&D’s Foods played an April Fools’ joke on parents by announcing a new product – bacon flavored formula. The joke was on J&D’s, though, as they received numerous requests for the fake product. Mead-Johnson, however, had already beaten J&D’s to the junk-food punch by providing chocolate flavored formula in February.

Chocolate as an Allergen
Though chocolate allergies are somewhat rare and are not on the “big 8” list of children’s food allergies, the treat should still be approached with caution. The darker the chocolate, the fewer potential allergens it contains.

Teaching Smart Eating Habits
Children copy our eating habits and, while it is not necessary to hide sweets from our toddlers, it is inadvisable to provide them with sweets as a substitute for healthier choices. Nutritionists caution that providing a basic food, like milk, to our children and disguising it with sugar sets a dangerous precedent. “Children have to be given foods multiple times before they take to them,” New York University nutrition professor Marion Nestle told FOX News this morning. In her blog, Professor Nestle wrote, “Next: let’s genetically modify moms to produce chocolate breast milk!” We should be teaching our children to like vegetables and fruits, not chocolate.

The Enfamil formula also comes in a vanilla option and both flavors contain 19 grams of sugar per 7-ounce serving. Mead-Johnson has stated that the products are not any sweeter than chocolate milk or orange juice and that their products contain nutrients that regular cow’s milk lacks. Supporters (and parent consumers) of the product believe that getting a child to drink a dairy-based product is what is important. With children’s propensity for “carb-loading” and avoiding healthy foods like fruits and vegetables, some parents are happy to have their child consuming something other than crackers and pizza.

What the Experts Say
According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, feeding a toddler sweets at the early age of one year of age will fuel the child's interest in eating more sweets and diminish their interest in nutritious foods. The AAP also states that dietary supplements are a rare need for toddlers who eat a normally varied diet.

Would you (or do you already) give your child flavored formula?