It is currently impossible to source vegetarian baby milk derived from cows milk. The only fully suitable vegetarian baby milk is the Holle Organic Goats Milk Formula, which is also the only certified organic goats milk for babies on the market.

Whenever I talk to Holle about this situation they tell me that they would desparately like to make their baby milks and formulas suitable for vegetarian babies and families. As a caring and ethical company they have enormous sympathies with animal welfare issues. The organic full cream milk used in Holle baby milks and formulas comes from cows raised biodynamically in the organic fields and pastures of Germany and Austria. The superior quality of their infant formulas derives from the traditionally high quality farming and the expert care the animals receive, as well as the naturally lush vegetation available to the cows.

Vegetarian Baby Milks – The Difficulties

As a company, Holle has a policy of working to make their baby milks suitable for vegetarians and, as such, do not add any fish oils to their baby milks – unlike some other baby milk companies.

However, they are not yet able to source sufficient quanitities of  whey powder, which they are required to add by the strict EU baby milk and formula regulations, from strict vegetarian sources. Whenever they can source the whey from vegetarian sources they do so, but it is currently almost impossible to get vegetarian whey powder in the amounts baby food manufacturers would need to offer a consistent supply.

The company is constantly talking with its trusted biodynamic and organic farmers and suppliers as to how to work towards a more reliable supply of vegetarian whey powder for use in its baby milk. As soon as we hear any news we will post further articles on this blog and update our product descriptions.

Your Views on Vegetarian Baby Milks

I also pass on all your enquiries about vegetarian baby milks to Holle so that they continue to realise the importance of this issue to many mums and dads. So, if you would like to leave your comments here, I can guarantee that your voice will be heard.

While other baby milk manufacturers add ever more chemical ingredients Holle takes a different view. Caring mums and dads can be confident that the natural, premium quality milks used in the Holle formulas are giving their babies the essential nutrition they need. When your basic ingedients are this good, why add more?

To be sure I was giving the most accurate reply possible I referred the question to the chief pediatric nutritionist at Holle, the manufacturer of both organic baby formula 1 and 2. I thought I would share the reply I got because it may be of interest to other parents raising their babies on the Holle organic baby formula.

Iron as such isn’t listed on our baby formula packaging but all our baby formulas contain iron in the form of ferrous lactate, which is actually listed in the list of ingredients. Ferrous lactate is a form of iron that is readily digestible by babies and is, in fact, a legal requirement in baby formula. The reason for that is that  raw cows milk alone does not contain the level of iron required by law for infant nutrition. The iron content for each baby formula is also listed in the nutritional value tables on each package.

All babies fed with baby formula milks are perfectly well provided with iron. A deficiency of iron should not be feared.

Breast milk contains much less iron than infant formula, but  breastfed babies also generally do not lack iron, if they are weaning onto solid foods from the age of approximately 6 months onwards.

Meat contains a high amount of iron in a form that is easily available to the body’s digestive system. Grains and vegetables together with a source of vitamin C can also supply a sufficient amount of iron for vegetarian and breast milk fed babies. Vitamin C helps the body to make use of the available iron in foods.

It is more important which iron content the food has and how well it is available for the body and not whether it is fortified with iron or not. Natural and organically produced foods are a good source of iron.

So, there is a legally prescribed amount of iron added to baby formula to ensure your baby has more than sufficient for all his/her needs. When weaning, as long as your baby continues to have the formula and a reasonably balanced intake of small amounts of foods, everything will be fine.

Holle Organic Growing Up Milk 3

Due to an unexpectedly high demand, our increasingly popular Holle Organic Growing Up Milk is temporarily out of stock. Fortunatley this will be just for a few days as we are expecting a delivery of Holle goodies within the next few days. We will post an update and make the milk available online again as soon as we take delivery.

Organic Growing Up Milk – Specially Formulated for Older Infants

Holle’s excellent organic baby milks and formulas are ideal when breastfeeding isn’t possible and can be given to babies from birth through until the end of their third year. As your baby grows, nutritional demands change and the Holle baby milks are designed to meet the differing needs of your growing infant.

The Holle Organic Infant Follow-on Formula 3 is relativley new to the UK and can be given to babies from 12 months through until the end of their third year. Your child is an active toddler now and Growing Up Milk 3 will meet your child’s growing nutritional needs at this stage in its rapid development. Holle Organic Growing Up Milk 3 is  satisfying, easy to digest, tasty and gluten free.

Growing Up Milk 3 is increasingly popular with parents concerned with making sure their child continues to drink a milk that is not only suited to their developmental stage but also contains nothing unnatural – all Holle baby milks are premium organic quality and contain no chemical nasties.

Holle Organic Infant Follow-on Formula - No Added Fluoride

Twice in the last month I have received enquiries from customers asking whether the Holle organic baby milks and formulas have the chemical fluoride added during their production.

I have consulted Holle’s head of quality control and nutrition and can categorically confirm that the Holle organic baby milks and formulas do NOT have fluoride added. Furthermore, none of the organic baby food produced by Holle have fluoride added.

I am aware of the possible dangers of fluoride and am against ‘mass medication’ by adding it to our drinking water (luckily not everywhere in the UK or Europe) and to our toothpastes. When I first learned about fluoride many years ago I was indeed very shocked, especially considering that the aluminium industry tells us that their by-product is good for us humans while it is used to kill rats at the same time. I would recommend any parent look into the issue of fluoride in our food and drink and take action to protect their babies – who are, after all,extremely vulnerable and deserve a pure and wholesome diet.

Holle Baby Milks – The Nutritional Breakdown

When looking at the nutritional breakdown on any of the Holle organic baby milk packaging you will though find reference to fluoride in the list of nutrients in the formulas. So, what is going on – didn’t I just categorically state that fluoride isn’t added to the baby milks? I did, and that is perfectly correct. The fluoride trace content declared on the packaging is simply what naturally occurs in the milk derived from the biodynamically/organically raised cows that supply the milk to produce the baby formula. I should point out that fresh milk naturally contains traces of fluoride, as will most foods – just like many other trace elements.

How Do the Holle Baby Formulas Compare?

One customer also mentioned in his email another well known brand of organic baby milks and formulas and his concern at the levels of fluoride in their baby milks. While I will not mention the manufacturer, I have checked the figures and can confirm a huge difference in the levels of fluoride present between their organic baby milks and those produced by Holle. The figures are as follows:

• Holle – 0.56 µg per 100 ml made up follow-on infant formula
• Other brand – 36.0 µg per 100 ml made up follow-on infant formula

Compared with breastmilk one of our correspondents wrote:

One statistic I looked at after I sent my earlier e-mail was how the Holle milk compares with mothers’ breast milk in terms of natural fluoride content, and I found it was broadly the same amount.

Make an Informed Choice When Choosing a Baby Milk

As a concerned parent who, for whatever reason cannot or does not breastfeed, choosing a baby milk or formula is an important decision. I would always advise parents to check ingredients lists and lists of nutrients, and if you have any doubts ask questions – ask as many questions as you need in order to satisfy yourself.

At Ulula we are always happy to receive your queries and will do our very best to give you an open and honest answer so that you can make an informed decision.

Share your experiences with the Holle organic baby milks and formulas with other parents – tell us how your baby likes the Holle range.

Read more about the Holle range of organic baby milks and formulas >>

The event gave us one of our regular opportunities to catch up with our suppliers, including Holle, manufacturer of organic baby food. I’ll post a few small entries over the coming days on plans and upcoming developments in the world of organic baby food.

The first is the announcement that the Holle Organic Goats Milk infant formula is the only goats milk for babies currently on the UK market that is certified organic. We are proud to be able to supply the Holle baby milk to parents whose babies require an alternative to cow’s milk – your feedback tells us how important that is to you.

Just a word of thanks, for my order, i recieved everything on Tuesday (so quick!)

Its impossible almost, to find baby formula without soya in it, they all contain this toxic bean.

After stopping breastfeeding because of medicine, i started using formula milk, but after researching  about formulas I realised fast how bad they were, and how disruptive to the hormone system and thyroid, soya is, It really depressed me to think for 3 months i fed my baby that poison, (and it smelt so bad too) , it was with a heavy heart that i fed my baby with it until i found your company supplying organic and more importantly soya free milk, i bought one box first, to see if he was ok with it, as i know some babies can be allergic to dairy, i was relieved when after drinking his first bottle all was well and he was fine. while i wish he  was only breastfed, at least I have peace of mind now  that hes not consuming soya , and im delighted the ingredients are organic.

so thankyou once again for  this service, much appreciated.

It seems so many cows milk based baby milks and formulas contain soya nowadays. Even a cursory glance at the available literature reveals an intense debate on the possible short and long term disadvantages for a growing baby of including soya in its earliest diet.

It seems to me that, while there are such doubts, the best approach to take is the most natural. Where a mother, for whatever reason, is not able to breastfeed, why then not ensure the baby milk given as a substitute is organic and produced from milk from animals that are reared without nasty chemicals and in surroundings that resemble their natural environments as closely as possible? Subsequently, why not then produce the baby formula without including a cocktail of unnecessary and potentially harmful additives?

It may not result in the cheapest of baby milks, but you can be sure that you are feeding your precious baby a milk on which he or she can thrive. I I am proud to sell the Holle baby milk range, one of the few organic baby formula ranges on the market that is entirely soya-free (as well as being free from many other nasties).

What are your thoughts on soya in baby milks and formulas? What has been your experience? If your baby changed from a soya containing milk to a soya free infant formula, how did your baby react? Let us know.

Milk from goats can be used as an alternative to cows milk, but from what age?

Sometimes babies need a formula that is derived from an alternative to cows milk. When I first started Ulula just over four years ago, the Holle organic goats milk formula could be sold from 6 months onwards. But there was a big issue with the Food Standard Agency (FSA) in the UK. The FSA said that there hadn’t been enough studies showing that goat’s milk is an alternative to cow’s milk in terms of the similarity of  proteins within the milks.

I personally ask myself, why has goats milk been used for centuries as an alternative to cow’s milk if it wasn’t one? Why has nature to be questioned all the time? Why have we lost our intuition to judge and make decisions without reading all sorts of opinions, books, magazines, which are often badly researched and which confuse us.

As a mum you are the best person to judge your baby, you know your baby intimately, you watch him all the time. You know when he reacts and how. Some knowledge about nutrition is fine and very helpful. But if you think about it, it is also common sense, which you have as a mum because you are aware of your baby all the time.

The recipe used in the Holle organic goats nutrition (from 12 months) is exactly the same as that sold in Germany from 4 months onwards and in Australia from 6 months onwards. I have a mum buying it for her 4 months old baby because she used it in Australia, is the owner of a business dealing with alternative medicines and, as she said, she knows what she is doing because she ‘listens’ to her baby.

You can find more information about the FSA decision on their website, but it left me with more questions to be honest.

Does your baby drink goat’s milk formula as an alternaive to cows milk? If so, how did you come to the decision to give your baby goats milk? Let us know what you think.