SEED OILS IN BABY FORMULA… BY LAW?! What in the Actual World Are We Doing?

If you’ve ever wondered how far we’ve strayed from real food, look no further than modern infant formula. Once upon a time, babies got their first taste of life through nutrient-rich breastmilk—nature’s perfect food. Now? It's more like a toxic sludge of industrial byproducts, seed oils, and synthetic sugars.

And here's the kicker: In the United States, it's actually illegal to sell baby formula without seed oils.

That’s right. You can’t make a formula legally available in stores unless it includes rancid, highly processed vegetable oils—originally created to lubricate machinery. Somehow, these franken-oils have wormed their way into not just our food system, but the most fragile part of it: our infants.

Let’s break it down.

1. Illegal to Sell Seed Oil-Free Baby Formula in the U.S.

Yes, you read that correctly. According to FDA guidelines, all infant formulas must contain a specified level of fat, and manufacturers have defaulted to cheap, oxidized seed oils like soybean, sunflower, safflower, and canola to meet those requirements.

Never mind that these oils are heavily refined, genetically modified, and linked to inflammation and oxidative stress. Doesn’t matter. If you try to make a seed oil–free, real food formula? You’ll be shut down.

2. Ingredient Breakdown of the #1 Pediatrician-Recommended Formula

Let’s take a look at one of the top-selling baby formulas in America:

• 42% Corn Syrup

• 20% Seed Oils

• 15% Soy Protein Isolate

• 10% Added Sugar

That’s nearly 90% ultra-processed junk. And yet, this formula is labeled as “nutritionally complete.” There’s more nutrition in a grass-fed steak than in the top ten baby formulas combined.

This is what our kids are being handed as their first food. It’s not food—it’s factory sludge.

3. BREAKING: Scientists Discover the Ultimate Superfood

Yes, it’s breastmilk. Shocking, we know.

Breastmilk is not just food—it’s alive. It contains:

• Colostrum for immune support

• Living antibodies tailored to protect against pathogens in the baby’s environment

• Prebiotics and probiotics to build a healthy gut

• DHA, cholesterol, and saturated fat crucial for brain and nervous system development

• Bioavailable nutrients your baby can actually absorb

There is no synthetic formula in the world that replicates the intelligence of a mother's milk.

4. Lead and Arsenic Found in Baby Formulas

A study published in Consumer Reports tested 41 formulas and baby foods for heavy metals. The results? Disturbing.

Many formulas contained measurable amounts of lead, arsenic, cadmium, and mercury—all known neurotoxins that affect developing brains. The worst part? These formulas met “legal” safety limits, which are outdated and do not reflect what's truly safe for infants.

Toxic heavy metals + inflammatory oils = a devastating start to life.

5. 22,000 Times More Estrogen in Infants Fed Soy Formula

Soy formula isn’t just a protein substitute—it’s a phytoestrogen bomb. In fact, infants fed soy-based formula are estimated to consume the equivalent of 5 birth control pills worth of estrogen every day.

Let that sink in.

This unnatural hormone exposure during critical development windows has been linked to:

• Early puberty

• Reproductive abnormalities

• Immune dysfunction

• Thyroid disruption

6. That’s the Equivalent of 5 Birth Control Pills—Per Day

We aren’t exaggerating. A study in Lancet quantified that infants exclusively fed soy formula had blood concentrations of isoflavones (plant estrogens) 13,000–22,000 times higher than those in breastfed babies.¹

Imagine giving a baby a daily hormonal drug cocktail and calling it nourishment.

7. Breastfed Babies Score Higher on IQ Tests

Let’s talk brain development.

Multiple studies have shown that breastfed babies have IQs that average 8 points higher than their formula-fed peers.² That’s not a small margin—it’s a full cognitive tier.

Why? Likely because of the saturated fats, DHA, cholesterol, and naturally occurring nutrients that support rapid brain growth—all of which are limited or missing in commercial formula.

8. Formula vs. Breastmilk: The Comparison That Says It All

Final Thoughts from The Carnivore Bar Team

We care about real food and ancestral health—not just for adults who eat our bars, but for the next generation, too. The fact that babies are being fed corn syrup and chemical fats by default should raise alarms in everyone.

If you can breastfeed, that’s ideal. If not, consider sourcing donor milk or making a clean, nourishing homemade formula. The Weston A. Price Foundation has an excellent, time-tested goat milk–based recipe that has helped thousands of families return to real nourishment.

Let’s give our kids the nutrient-dense start they deserve. They shouldn’t be the testing ground for Big Food and Pharma.

Citations:

1. Setchell, Kenneth D. R., et al. “Isoflavone Content of Infant Formulas and the Metabolic Fate of These Phytoestrogens in Early Life.” The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, vol. 68, no. 6, 1998, pp. 1453S–1461S.

2. Anderson, James W., et al. “Breast-feeding and Cognitive Development: A Meta-analysis.” The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, vol. 70, no. 4, 1999, pp. 525–535.

3. Consumer Reports. “What’s in Your Baby’s Food? Heavy Metals Found in 95 Percent of Tested Products.” Consumer Reports, https://www.consumerreports.org.

4. Nutrition and Your Infant’s Formula. U.S. Food and Drug Administration, https://www.fda.gov.

5. Fallon, Sally, et al. “Homemade Baby Formula.” The Weston A. Price Foundation, https://www.westonaprice.org.

6. Setchell, Kenneth D. R., et al. “Exposure of Infants to Phyto-Oestrogens from Soy-Based Infant Formula.” The Lancet, vol. 350, no. 9070, 1997, pp. 23–27. Elsevier, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(96)09480-9.