Back in World War II, when women needed to pitch in for the war effort (by showing up at factory jobs), bottle feeding was a pretty good invention. This is because while women were away from their homes, so were their milk-filled breasts. As an alternative they used homemade formula, mostly made from cow’s milk. But because a human baby’s digestive system is much more sensitive and delicate that a baby cow’s, baby humans had a very rough time digesting the cow milk.
And so companies racked their brains for a solution in trying to manufacture a substance that could compare to breastmilk. So how did they come up with the recipe for formula? Years of research funded by government grants to come up with the perfect baby food?
Nope! In fact, dairy farmers had been looking for a way to use the leftover whey they had (which is a byproduct of the production of milk, cheese and butter). At the same time, business men were looking for a cheap way to maximize profits in marketing a type of baby food that would compete with the homemade formulas at the time (and of course the natural breastfeeding method). They figured out that mixing whey with water and oil would allow them to feed babies without killing them. And so, the very first ingredient in baby formulas (after water) happened to be the waste product of the dairy industry. Whey.
Afterwards, manufacturers threw in some vitamins along with the whey, water and oils (which are generally, palm oil, soy oil or coconut oil, some of the cheapest oils out there) and dubbed the substance “Baby Formula”. Keep in mind that these same oils are drizzled all over movie theater popcorn and are commonly passed up by health conscious people!
Knowing this, I believe we need to reevaluate our perception of baby formula. Is it truly some magnificent human invention made with the mother and child’s best interest in mind? Or was it a quick fix during World war II that happened to turn into a giant industry? An industry that sells an artificial substance for pure profit despite how obviously inferior their substance is in comparison to natural breastmilk.
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