Reading a formula label
What the words that worry people actually mean.
The ones people ask about
| What it is | Does it matter? | |
|---|---|---|
| Corn syrup solids | Glucose polymers replacing lactose | Legal and safe in the US; would fail EU rules for standard Stage 1. Not the same as high-fructose corn syrup. |
| Maltodextrin | Another glucose polymer, similar role | Same picture. Adds sweetness and changes stool pattern. |
| Palm oil | Supplies palmitic acid, which breast milk carries | Safe. Firms stools and slightly reduces calcium absorption. sn-2 palmitate is the structured form that avoids this. |
| Sucrose | Plain sugar, listed as "sugar" | Appears on 8 of the 111 formulas we track, all US-registered. Worth noticing because few people expect sugar on an infant formula label. |
| Carrageenan | A seaweed thickener | Banned in EU infant formula, permitted in US liquid formulas. No formula in this Atlas contains it. |
The order matters: ingredients are listed by weight. If the first carbohydrate named is not lactose, that is the single most informative thing on the label.