According to the Rudd Center’s Baby Food Facts report, the commercial infant and toddler nutrition industry is fraught with extensive advertising that can be confusing for the average family consumers. As a general rule, pureed fruits and vegetables for babies tend to highly nutritious with little/no sugar, fats and sodium. Toddler food products and snacks are often not highly nutritious, especially grain-based and fruit-based snacks. The fruit-based yogurt snacks scored the lowest in overall nutrition. Cheerios have a higher nutrition score than any finger food marketed for infants or toddlers.

This report also reviewed toddler formulas. They found that the nutritional content of toddler formulas was not superior to whole cows’ milk, with some having an unacceptable amount of calories and sugar. The American Academy of Pediatrics specifically recommends against toddler formulas for children 1-2 years of age.

Finally, the Baby Food Facts report has fascinating details regarding the advertising behavior of the formula companies. Infant formulas are very similar nutritionally because their ingredients are regulated by the US Food and Drug Administration. Despite the lack of unique qualities, many formulas print special child development messages on their labels, with themes such as ‘we are closer to breastmilk than any other formula’, ‘for fussiness and gas due to lactose sensitivity’, and ‘brain-nourishing nutrients’. The report suggests that the Food and Drug Administration take an active role in regulating these health marketing claims. Until then, you can reassure families that infant formula never was and never will be remotely similar to mother’s own milk.