by Adam Spangler
May 20, 2008

This just in: Sugar in large doses is not healthy, especially for babies.

Where does the New York Times come up with the scoops?

As I was filing this article into the common sense bin (read: trash) I realized I needed to give it a second look. Maybe pointing out that cane sugar (sucrose), the usual choice for organic products, is potentially worse for you than other sugars is worth noting, especially for children, given the obesity, health, and addiction issues Americans have with their food.

In the cross-hairs of the gray lady—surely a breastfeeding supporter, that old journalism wind bag with thinning pockets—is Similac Organic formula, the only major brand made with cane sugar, making it sweeter than other organic formula brands, not to mention breast milk.

Tests showed Similac Organic to have the sweetness of Country Time lemonade. Um, yeah, that can’t be good for a baby.

No specific health claims have been made against Similac Organic, but the doctors surveyed by the Times worry that, “Sucrose can harm tooth enamel faster than other sugars; once babies get used to its sweeter taste, they might resist less sweet formulas or solid foods; and some studies suggest that they might overeat, leading to rapid weight gain in the first year, which is often a statistical predictor of childhood obesity.”

And oh by the way, Europe is going to ban sucrose-sweetened formulas at the end of 2009.

But why? According to Similac’s nutrition expert, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) says that sucrose is “safe and well-established.” The expert went on to say that Similac “did not ‘optimize for taste’ when developing infant formula,” and that the company’s “primary focus is to support normal growth through optimal nutrition and quality ingredients.”

Just a nice coincidence, I guess, that the sweeter the food, the more a baby will eat of it. Surely, Similac’s nutrition expert knows this fact, right?

Dr. Benjamin Caballero, director of the Center for Human Nutrition at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and an expert in risk factors for childhood obesity told the Times that he “would be very concerned about this as a pediatrician. The issue is that sweet tastes tend to encourage consumption of excessive amounts.”

So what to do?

• Breastfeed your baby; problem solved.

• Use common sense; choose wisely.

There is that term again—common sense.

There are multinational corporations like Similac that will quote a nutrition expert that says things like—the FDA tell us that sucrose is safe and well-established. So you need to be at least a bit savvy when it comes to free-market capitalism and the grocery store. “It’s organic? Sold!” Not so fast.

Just reading labels isn’t good enough anymore—all natural, organic, whatever. Some may argue that the FDA isn’t good enough either. But really, it’s not the government’s job to tell parents what they can and cannot feed to their babies.

That’s what living in America is all about: choices.

Making the right choices is up to you.