Organic Formula Stirs Worries About Sugar

Although it controls more than a third of the organic baby formula market, Similac Organic also carries a less coveted distinction: It is the only brand in the category that contains cane sugar, or sucrose. The company says its is FDA approved, but many parents and doctors worry about starting babies on the extra-sweet formula, the New York Times reports.

Experts worry about accelerated tooth decay, the possibility that added sugar trains babies to want sweeter foods, and the potential link to childhood obesity; Europe has banned sucrose in formulas partly for those reasons. Says a doctor, “That organic formula would be sweeter might not be a health risk, but it certainly isn’t what the parents have in mind.” (More public health stories.)