When choosing milk powder, everyone will generally consider many aspects, but some parents will also have special requirements. For example, in our mother group, many parents said that they wanted milk powder with a light taste. Today, we will talk about "those sweets in milk powder" and teach you how to choose a milk powder with a light and moderate taste
Sensory quality is one of the important factors influencing consumers to choose products. The taste of infant formula is also often an important factor for many parents to consider when choosing. The reasons why parents choose milk powder with moderate sweetness and light taste are mainly in the following aspects:
I like the light taste of breast milk
The first thing that the baby gives him after birth is breast milk, which is light and has a milky smell, which is conducive to the baby's sucking and taste bud development. Therefore, when it comes to formula feeding, babies need a light taste.
Taste sensitivity period: avoid partial eating, picky eating bad habits
0 to 2 years old is an important period for the formation of baby's taste preferences, and 6 to 12 months is a critical period. During the baby's taste sensitivity period, maintaining a light taste can significantly reduce the risk of partial eating and picky eating in the baby.
Health considerations
There are many sources of sweetness in infant formula, and in addition to the common lactose, some manufacturers add sensitive ingredients such as sucrose, white sugar, flavors and flavors to milk powder. These substances are not helpful to the baby's physical health, and also increase the burden on the baby's body.
Long-term consumption is extremely unfavorable to its growth and development, and will also cause caries and aggravate the situation of picky eating. Especially for infants and young children aged 0-3 years, it is recommended to take a light taste, and it is not recommended to eat "flavorful" milk powder prematurely.
In addition, parents must not measure the baby's milk powder by the taste scale of adults, because the taste of infants and young children is much more sensitive than that of adults, and adults feel "a little sweet", they will feel "very sweet". Therefore, when parents choose light milk powder for their babies, they must learn to recognize these sugars in milk powder!
What exactly are the sugars in milk powder?
Carbohydrates are carbohydrates and are important nutrients that supply the body with energy. The highest content of infant formula is carbohydrates (carbohydrates> fats> proteins), accounting for about 50%-60% of the total milk powder, which is the main source of energy for infants and young children.
The new national standards released in September 2018: National Standards for Food Safety Infant Formula Foods (Draft for Solicitation of Comments), National Standards for Food Safety For Larger Infant Formula Foods (Draft for Solicitation of Comments) and National Standards for Food Safety For Young Children 's Formula Foods (Draft for Solicitation of Comments) stipulate the following:
The carbohydrates in milk powder are mainly lactose, and a small number of milk powders also add other sugar substances, such as white sugar, maltodextrin, corn syrup solids, etc.
The role of sugars in milk powder varies
All along, many parents are more sensitive to the sugars in formula milk powder, but in fact, the "sugars" in milk powder have different roles, and today we will take you to know and understand
Sugars that are good for your baby don't have to "talk about sugar discoloration":
lactose
Lactose is a naturally occurring sugar in breast milk and is the main source of sweetness in breast milk. The national standard stipulates that the amount of lactose added in paragraph 1 accounts for 90% or more of carbohydrates, and the draft for comments stipulates that paragraphs 2 and 3 are 90% and above and 50% and above, respectively. It can be said that lactose is an irreplaceable carbohydrate for babies, and it is the most abundant ingredient in milk powder (except lactose-free milk powder), providing the baby with the energy needed to grow.
In addition to providing the baby with the energy needed for growth and development, lactose is the driving force for the development and activity of the baby's internal organs, nerves, limbs, muscles, etc., and there are many health benefits. It can be broken down into α-lactose and β-lactose. The development of your baby's brain cells and the soundness of the entire nervous system require a lot of lactose.
Moreover, the baby's digestive tract has sufficient lactase to decompose lactose, which can decompose and absorb lactose well. Lactose can promote the reproduction and growth of lactic acid bacteria in the baby's intestines, and has a regulatory and protective effect on the baby's gastrointestinal tract. Lactose can also promote the absorption of calcium by the baby during the metabolism of calcium.
Galactose oligomer
Galactose GOS is a functional oligosaccharide with natural properties, and after the birth of a newborn, the establishment of the bifidobacterium flora in the body relies heavily on the GOS component in breast milk. The addition of galacto-oligosaccharides to infant milk powder can better promote the balance of the baby's flora and help improve the digestive function of the child.
Fructooligosaccharides
Fructooligosaccharide FOS is a type of prebiotic that can be used by the beneficial bacteria of the intestine to help the proliferation of beneficial bacteria and promote the absorption of minerals, vitamins and other nutrients. In addition, it also has the functions of regulating blood lipids, immunomodulatory, anti-caries and so on.
Fructooligosaccharides
It is a polymer of more than 20 fructose (monosaccharides), which has the effect of regulating the intestinal flora, proliferating bifidobacteria, and promoting calcium absorption.
Xylose oligosaccharides
Also known as xylosaccharide XOS, one of the most powerful varieties of proliferating bifidobacterium in the polymeric sugar class, can be directly into the intestine for the use of bifidobacterium, with the effect of inhibiting the growth of harmful bacteria, reducing constipation, promoting the body to produce a variety of nutrients, and enhancing the baby's immunity.
Isomerized lactose
Also known as lactulose, is a disaccharide prebiotic, after entering the human body, can directly reach the large intestine, is living in the baby's intestine bifidobacterium selectively used, can improve the intestinal environment, reduce constipation.
raffinose
It is an excellent source of nutrients and effective proliferative factors for beneficial bacteria such as bifidobacteria and acidophilus in the human intestine, which can improve digestion and bowel movements, promote the absorption of calcium by the baby, and enhance the baby's immunity.
Be careful about the selection of sensitive ingredient sugars:
fructose
For a kind of sugar extracted from various fruits and grains, combined with glucose to form daily consumption of sucrose, for a common carbohydrate, the sweetness is high, it is not recommended for infants and young children to eat too much, the People's Republic of China national standard GB 10765-2010, infant formula food also clearly stated that infant (0-6 months) formula food, fructose must not be used.
Sucrose (white sugar)
Also known as sugar, white sugar, eating too much, easy to make the baby appear tooth decay, but also easy to cause obesity.
Corn syrup solids
Corn syrup solids are mainly based on maltose, although it tastes sweet, but it will also enhance the sweetness of milk powder like sucrose, which is not conducive to bao to develop good eating habits.
Fruit glucose syrup
The main components of fructose syrup are fructose and glucose, too high intake may cause obesity, and is not conducive to the baby's taste development, which can seriously lead to anorexia!
Maltodextrin
Maltodextrin, also known as water-soluble dextrin, it is a low-priced, creamy, no taste of nutritional polysaccharides, good solubility, can be used as a sweetener, flavor carrier, sweetness is very low.
Ranks high in relative sweetness
After knowing so many sugars and their respective roles, do you know how to identify who is sweeter when choosing milk powder? How sweet are they?
Below we measure the sweetness of sucrose by 1, and rank the relative sweetness of beneficial sugars and sensitive ingredient sugars from high to low.
The results are as follows, for your reference when choosing:
It is worth noting that although the relative sweetness of sugars that are beneficial to the baby is generally lower than that of other sensitive ingredients, it is not all without sweetness, so we do not have to be too harsh when choosing light milk powder, and it is normal for milk powder to have a faint sweetness.
If you want to choose a light milk powder, it is more necessary to pay attention to identifying sensitive ingredients and sugars according to your baby's physique.
Flavors and fragrances add to the sweet flavor of milk powder
In addition, some milk powder obviously smells very sweet, but it tastes light, in fact, mainly because of the addition of flavor and fragrance.
The sweet smell of 1 paragraph milk powder is relatively light, because the national standard clearly stipulates that 1 paragraph milk powder must not add any cooking spices. However, vanillin, ethyl vanillin and vanilla bean extract can be used in larger infant and toddler formulas, and some 2 or 3 stages of milk powder will be added in order to adjust the taste and make the milk powder smell more fragrant and sweeter.
Flavors and fragrances do not have much nutritional value, but also easy to cause bad habits such as partial eating and picky eating, so parents need to pay attention to whether to add milk powder when choosing milk powder.
Finally, some mothers reflect that organic milk powder generally has a weak taste. Why?
Related to the strict "five organic systems":
Organic milk powder has a strict "five organic systems", including: organic pasture, organic cow, organic processing, organic traceability, organic certification five aspects. Compared with ordinary milk powder, it is more natural, safer and greener.
Generally do not add sensitive ingredients such as white sugar and corn syrup:
Only 23 organic milk powders on the market are registered through infant formula, and only a small number of 2 and 3 milk powders have sugars such as added white sugar, corn syrup, maltodextrin and so on.