Controversial baby food

Non-natural omega-3s and omega-6s

By Caroline Cummins

April 16, 2008

As the La Leche League would be happy to tell you, there really is no good substitute for mother’s milk. For the past few months, the activist nonprofit the Cornucopia Institute has been lobbying for the removal of certain additives from infant formula. This week, the institute filed a legal complaint with the USDA, stating that toxic solvents should not be allowed in the production of organic food.

According to the institute, “baby formula and other food manufacturers are using hexane-extracted omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids (DHA/ARA) derived from algae and soil fungus.”

What does that mean? Well, hexane is a toxic solvent that’s prohibited from being used in organic-food production. The Cornucopia Institute states that Martek Biosciences Corporation produces fatty-acid supplements using hexane, and gives a list of suspect products:

Organic products with the prohibited fatty-acid supplements include Horizon Organic milk with DHA (Dean Foods) and organic infant formulas, including Similac Organic (Abbott Laboratories), Earth’s Best (Hain Celestial), and Bright Beginnings Organic (PBM Products).

The factory-made supplements may cause vomiting and diarrhea in infants. The National Alliance for Breastfeeding Advocacy and Cornucopia are trying to get the FDA to slap warning labels on all products containing Martek supplements.