Food Politics

This morning I read about Bob Evans’ gravy and sausage dispenser (http://bit.ly/dfzg4X). Now, I read about chocolate milk for infants. This is unbelievable. Unfortunately, you have to believe it because no one could make this stuff up.

Thanks for keeping us informed.

Ken Leebow
http://www.FeedYourHeadDiet.com

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This post was mentioned on Twitter by SamanthaHeller: If you have a baby read this: http://www.foodpolitics.com/2010/04/chocolate-toddler-formula/...

Is this a joke?

Seriously…is it?

This product belongs on the candy isle.

this is so wrong – how do they get away with this stuff?

Yes, but you see, human breast milk is like 32% saturated fat, (‘artery-clogging’ saturated fat as everyone is fond of saying) and chock full of animal protein (ghastly) so it’s hugely unhealthful according to the ‘low-fat’ eat plants’ advice.

Babies should eat plants. Plants. You know, malto dextrin, sunflower oil, cocoa. That’s why we invented stuff like this.

Unbelievable!! I’m sure that there must be a research project in place to see if they can genetically modify us moms to not only produce chocolate milk, but strawberry milk too!

I have a 15 month old daughter–she stopped drinking formula and switched to regular milk at a year. Why are they even marketing formula to toddlers?!
Keep up the good work Marion. I count on you to keep me updated!

I’m snacking on some chocolate right now and nursing my son. Funny coincidence. That’s as close as he’s going to get to chocolate milk for a long time.

This makes me want to bang my head against a wall.

Wow, this is pretty cool. I’m gunna buy some for my 12 month old to try out. People, it’s fine in moderation! Why do people believe everything you read? These comments are what make me sick because you are typical stupid paerents. You believe everything someone says that is bad for your kid! Come back to reality people, because in a few years your kids are going to be drinking chocolate milk with out you knowing about it!

@Kate

I DON’T believe everything I read (especially labels such as the one above)–that is why I look to people like Dr. Nestle for valid scientifically based information presented in a readable format. You would do well to read her books and some of the archived subjects on this blog.

If you want to spend $18.99 for a “snack” for a one-year-old, that is your business, but small children don’t need “snacks” at all. They need fresh, nutritious food in amounts (calories) appropriate for their age.

I raised four children who never tasted chocolate milk at home or at school. Treats were occasional and there was no soda either. This is possible, but not if you don’t even see the need for it to begin with! I think you are the dream Mom for the people who market this crap to young parents. Educate yourself, my dear, for your child’s sake. Marion knows what she is talking about–please read her qualifications before you toss off her views.

——

@ Addison

Your argument is so much of a straw man that I don’t know where to begin. Let it suffice to say that you have missed the point of, not only this post, but of this entire blog. To equate the nutritional needs of babies, (which definitely include protein and fat) with the silly ingredients in this “formula”, is just….well….silly. Breast milk is the perfect food for babies and is not the equivalent of an adult consuming too much artery-clogging animal fat from other species.

@Anthr – I d0 believe ET Addison was being sarcastic.

@Kate – I can’t believe you are calling those who are upset about the chocolate formula “typical stupid parents.” Why is it stupid to want to minimize things like this in a young toddler’s life? They have plenty of time to mess up their diets, I’m not going to do it for them.

Sure – they’ll have chocolate milk one day – my toddler has about a tablespoon in a regular glass of milk once in a great while for a treat, but this isn’t chocolate milk. This isn’t even food for crying out loud – it’s a chemically modified combination of ingredients. Sunflower oil, maltodextrin and cocoa do not constitute “whole food” which is what I’m aiming for for my kids.

Can someone explain the difference between this and something like, let’s say, chocolate flavored pedia-sure?

I’m not trying to start a war, just generally curious.

@Lindsay,
Pediasure is designed/marketed to children 2-8 years old. It is meant for picky eaters. It’s a silly product, that perpetuates myths about how children eat, escalates eating problems in many children, but on occasion it can fill the gap for certain kids with parents who don’t know how to make smoothies…
Enfagrow is designed for toddlers (I’m guessing 1-2 years). It’s never been a useful product although the clever marketing campaigns tought it as a “follow up formula” for older babies that need more calcium than formula provides. Of course, food is supposed to provide nutrients for kids, so there’s no need to fortify the milk they drink with extra calcium, nutrients, or fibre.
Probably they’ve pre-purchased x million gallons of milk (from so-called conventional dairy farmers using cheap oil-fertilized, pesticide managed grain crops to fee em & antibiotics willy nilly etc) to get a good price on the milk, and now they’ve got all that cheap milk to market now that breastfeeding is more popular.
The magic of packaged foods! Fortification! Flavours! Omega 3s! In a package so you don’t have to make a series of good decsions, one bad decision can give you what you fail to give yourself….
Have never respected formula companies. The product is useful at times, but they have always misused the facts to create a market niche.

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Can anyone tell me when and if at all is it okay to start a child on formula and what brand?

Ahhh, corporations doing what corporations do best: going all amoral to sell us stuff.

Triple Health Guard: Growth – Brain – Immune system! Super-baby!

I’m going out to buy some for me right now.

Were it fiction, this tale would be an hysterical satire of enormous proportions. A pretty clever April Fool’s joke, isn’t it? Sadly, it is an all too real horror; the magnitude of its consequences staggering. It says much about a company who would take such a product to the marketplace. The crime of taking candy from a baby has been replaced with giving candy to babies, liquid if they can’t eat it any other way.

In no other industry does it seem as though the business plan is to kill off the customer base. First through addiction (to sugar, fat and sodium), next by slowly sickening them through eating ever-increasing amounts over their lifetimes (obesity, heart disease and hypertension). The final step is an early grave.

I called the manufacturer and asked why neither their ingredient list nor food label information are posted on their website. If they think it truly a good product , why isn’t that basic information given? Two people who’s job it is to answer questions for this company could not say. The unspoken response is that they KNOW it isn’t fit for human consumption. Neither could they tell me in which countries this product is marketed besides the US.

Manufacturers of food products such as this have demonstrated that they can no longer be trusted with our food supply. Americans have no choice but to get off the relentless sugar/fat/salt treadmill that is the bottom line of such companies. Put them out of the business of such unconscionable practices. Vote with our collective forks by learning to cook for ourselves, a practice as important as thinking for ourselves.

[...] to see, then, over at Food Politics, that the makers of infant formula have come out with a chocolate toddler formula.  It would make [...]

Marion,

My daughter is 17 months. I’ve been thinking about buying local, raw milk from a farmer nearby and I wonder if it would be ok to give my daughter.

Thoughts?

I have an idea for the choco-formula. My wife used to post an add on Craigslist when she had a bunch of extra formula that she would just give away. You should post this under the “Free Stuff” category and see if you get any takers. I’m wondering what is the thought process behind someone who would give this to a 1-year old.

Thanks

Eric

@ Marion: I just finished your book Food Politics and it opened my eyes to the influence food lobbyists have on the FDA’s dietary guidelines among many other problems we as consumers are facing in our decisions to make healthy informed choices. I look forward to to reading “What to Eat.”

Remember that infant formula companies are owned by drug companies — they are not food companies. This was a good idea way back when, when making infant formula was (and still is) a science that required research labs instead of test kitchens.

Drug companies sell more drugs when people get sick.

I really thought this was an Onion article. My kids (4-year-old twins) get sweets now and then, and I feel ok about it, but chocolate milk for toddlers????? Come on.

A perfect foundation for a lifetime of health challenges.

[...] Chocolate toddler formula? [...]

Considering all the “evidence” we’ve been given in the past about chocolate and other certain foods having qualities that will change our moods, I’m wondering if anyone’s ever thought about giving young children these things possibly changing their moods and brain chemistry?

Considering the high incidences of depression these days, I’m thinking that possibly risking that at all is just too high. Children should have limited amounts of sweets and other foods unnecessary for their development anyway so that they can learn to eat properly because we’ve all seen the results of that–a more obese generation that will live shorter lives than their parents.

*Comment cut me off* It bothers me to see more and more of these types of replacements for real, healthy food being offered to our children daily. I have to wonder about companies that would prefer to have childrens’ pleasure receptors affected. They’re not teaching children to eat properly to live healthy lives, they’re teaching them to eat for pleasure. That can NEVER be a good thing!

I would definitely worry about the caffeine etc.
We let our 9 month old taste his chocolate Easter Bunny(mommy got to eat the rest!), and he loved it, but still, I don’t think chocolate is an appropriate food for babies/toddlers in anything other than a tiny quantity. And the price on that is ridiculous! Is all formula etc. that expensive in Manhattan, or is that atypical even for there?