Danone has launched the new Dairy & Plants Blend baby formula to meet parents’ desire for feeding options suitable for vegetarian, flexitarian and plant-based diets, while still meeting their baby’s specific nutritional requirements. Danone has drawn on 50 years of scientific breastmilk research and its heritage of leadership in plant-based foods – through well-known brands like Alpro & Silk – to develop this new dairy & plant-based baby formula recipe.
The new Dairy & Plants Blend recipe combines the benefits of Danone’s trusted dairy-based baby formulas with more plant nutrition, including carefully selected plant proteins, fats and fibres. It is the industry’s first blended baby formula for healthy babies, in which more than half (60%) of the protein comes from plants.
The new recipe’s ingredients include:
60% plant protein – sourced from high-quality/non-GMO soy protein, as well as a variety of other plant ingredients including:
40% dairy protein – specifically casein & whey protein from cow’s milk, as well as other dairy ingredients, such as lactose – an important source of carbohydrates for babies, and an essential nutrient found in breastmilk
Exposing children to food tastes early in life can help shape future food preferences – such as for vegetables. Research also shows that a quarter of households are introducing plant-based alternatives to 1-2-year-olds.1 The mild taste of plants in the new Dairy & Plants Blend formula recipe is intended to help familiarize babies and toddlers with plant flavours in a gentle way, helping guide future flexitarian food choices.
Shifting towards plant-rich diets and embracing alternative sources of protein can help reduce carbon emissions. Danone believes by relying on more plant-based ingredients, alongside using recyclable packaging and supporting regenerative agriculture methods, we can have a meaningful impact on reducing the carbon footprint of our products.
With 60% of the protein in the Dairy & Plants blend sourced from a plant ingredient as well as using fully recyclable packaging, this new formula has a 30% lower carbon footprint compared to the range of Nutrilon brand powdered formulas currently available in the Netherlands.2 Danone calculated the carbon footprint by comparing the carbon emissions linked to sourcing the ingredients, producing, packaging and transporting the product to distributors and retailers.
Danone will launch the new Dairy & Plants Blend formula first in the Netherlands – under the Nutrilon brand, as an infant formula, follow-on formula and toddler formula – and starting later in 2022 in other countries – under the global Aptamil brand.
IMPORTANT NOTICE: Breastfeeding is best. Infant milk is suitable from birth when babies are not breastfed. Follow-on milk is only for babies over 6 months, as part of a mixed diet and should not be used as a breastmilk substitute before 6 months. We advise that the use of formula milks and the decision to start weaning should be made only on the advice of a doctor, dietitian, pharmacists or other professional responsible for maternal and child care based on a baby’s individual needs.
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