An increasing number of parents are opting for plant-based options to fulfil their children’s nutritional requirements, whether prompted by milk allergies or environmental and ethical considerations. Melissa Bradshaw, editor of The Plant Base, explores the offerings available in the plant-based infant and toddler nutrition category.
While raising a child on a plant-based diet can spark debate, it is essential to arm parents who choose this path with adequate resources and guidance to ensure their infants receive the necessary nutrients for healthy growth and development.
Parents need to educate themselves on the best ways to feed their children, seeking professional advice when necessary. But brands also have a crucial role to play by ensuring that products within this market contain the right ingredients.
The growing popularity of veganism among adults is likely contributing to the increasing number of children raised on a plant-based diet. Additionally, milk allergies play a significant role, with cow’s milk allergies affecting between 1.8% to 7.5% of infants in their first year of life, as reported by Allergy UK.
Hannah Whittaker, a registered dietitian specialising in vegan pregnancy and nutrition for children with milk allergies, stressed the vital considerations parents must make regarding plant-based diets for infants. “A balanced plant-based diet alongside appropriate supplementation can provide all the necessary nutrients a child requires,” she explained.
Whittaker noted that infants aged 1-3 years require at least 350mg of calcium per day for strong bone and teeth development. She highlighted the importance of plant-based milk, cheese or yogurt alternatives containing added calcium to meet these needs in the absence of dairy.
Dodging dairy
While breast milk is considred the gold standard, not all mothers can breastfeed. For those seeking an alternative, choosing a suitable formula can be challenging, especially if their children have specific dietary issues like milk allergies.
Although dairy-free infant formula options are available, the choices are often limited. Many of these formulas contain soy, which can also be an allergen. Furthermore, parents must carefully consider factors such as processing and ingredients to determine the healthiest option for their child.
Big names in the infant formula space, such as Danone, have taken note of this demand for
plant-based options. The French dairy giant signed a letter of intent to collaborate with plant-based brand, Else Nutrition, last year.
According to a press statement, a multi-stage collaboration between the two companies will involve an initial licensing agreement, whereby Else’s products – which are also soy-free – will be included in Danone’s specialised nutrition portfolio.
While Else did not provide further details on the collaboration, the company’s CEO and co-founder, Hamutal Cohen Yitzhak, announced an exciting development. The company is set to introduce its first infant formula designed for infants aged six months and above in Australia. Currently, the brand only offers formula for toddlers aged 12 months and older.
The brand’s newly developed infant formula is also currently on a pathway for approval in other countries, such as the US and Europe.
“There are no plant-based, dairy- and soy-free infant formula options on the global market besides rice protein-based infant formulas, which are ultra-processed and have many other drawbacks such as a high risk of arsenic and inferior taste,” Yitzhak commented.
Else’s toddler formula products have earned the Clean Label Purity Award certification, indicating that they have been rigorously tested for and confirmed to be free of over 4,000 different contaminants, pesticides and heavy metals. The brand’s complete nutrition formula for toddlers is formulated with a blend of natural ingredients, including almonds, buckwheat and tapioca.
Meanwhile, New Zealand-based Haven debuted what it believes is a world-first in the space: an oat-based toddler drink, crafted from a special concentrate of a unique oat protein to deliver on nutrition and taste.
Kara Fleming, Haven’s CEO, explained: “There are strict legal requirements set out in food laws for the development of toddler drinks for obvious reasons, but with our products, we always aim to go above and beyond the minimum regulated requirements to create a really beautiful and nutritionally sound end product”.
She added: “A lot of plant-based alternatives can be grainy or have a strange aftertaste, but our Oat Toddler Drink is super creamy and tastes just like a bowl of oats”.
Haven and Else’s toddler products also include algae-derived docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), a nutrient recommended by dietitian Whittaker for children on plant-based diets, in order to meet omega-3 intake requirements.
In addition to incorporating algal DHA for supporting healthy brain development, Haven’s Fleming highlighted several other beneficial components in their oat drink. These include lutein from marigolds to promote healthy eye development, pre and probiotics for enhanced gastrointestinal function, and a blend of high-oleic sunflower oil and coconut oil. This unique blend is designed to be gentler on the stomach compared to oils traditionally used in toddler milk, such as palm or canola.
Haven’s oat-based formula was crafted with the expertise of food scientist and infant nutrition advisor Lynley Drummond. It contains the same essential nutrients found in the brand’s A2 cow and goat formulations.
It is also crucial to fortify plant-based formulas with essential vitamins and minerals. These include vitamins B12, C and D, as well as zinc, iodine and choline. Whittaker recommends offering most of these nutrients through daily supplementation.
Futuristic formula
As we envision the future of plant-based formula, advancements in modern technologies hold the potential to unlock additional health benefits.
TurtleTree, a US-based biotech start-up, is pioneering animal-free proteins using precision fermentation to achieve this goal. One of their notable achievements is the production of lactoferrin, a protein naturally found in the milk of mammals, including humans and cows.
“Lactoferrin has traditionally and extensively been studied for its immune benefits in infants, but it is also known to support iron regulation and gut health,” TurtleTree’s director of clinical and scientific affairs and lactoferrin programme manager, Vanessa Castagna, told FoodBev.
She continued: “For very young infants, lactoferrin helps support a healthy gut environment to modulate the developing microbiome. Lactoferrin improves the bioavailability of iron and other minerals from the diet. These benefits have tremendous trickle-down effects, including positive outcomes on cognition, metabolism, growth and development.”
Castagna highlighted that despite over 60% of the approximately 600mT of lactoferrin produced worldwide annually being allocated to infant formula, the supply often fails to consistently meet market demand.
“In the US, for example, lactoferrin has been integrated into less than 5% of infant formula products because of the scarcity of ingredients, as compared to 50% in countries like China,” she added. “In addition, no animal-free dairy vegan-certified lactoferrin has been available for use in vegan infant formula products until now.”
TurtleTree has successfully commercialised its lactoferrin ingredient, LF+, for use in adult foods, beverages and supplements. However, the company is currently refining its specifications to optimise its use in infant formula, aiming to bring a ‘highly pure’ product to market within the next two years.
The fermentation process for LF+ involves inserting the genetic sequence of lactoferrin into microbes. These microbes are then placed in a bioreactor and provided with nutrients, undergoing fermentation to produce lactoferrin.
The resulting lactoferrin is collected and purified for use as an ingredient. “TurtleTree’s LF+ can support market demand and provide a consistent supply of this high-value ingredient. In addition, fermentation technology allows us to produce a product consistent in quality from batch-to-batch, reducing the inherent variability in quality from native cow’s milk sources,” Castagna explained.
Eat your greens
As babies start transitioning to solid foods, Whittaker advises that parents should be mindful of potential digestive changes since plant-based foods tend to be high in fibre. Some excellent first foods for plant-powered babies include avocado, sweet potato, tofu, broccoli and pasta.
For many parents, ensuring that foods are organic and natural is crucial. Once Upon A Farm, a US-based brand, offers organic plant-based recipes that are free from added sugar, colours, preservatives or “unpronounceable” ingredients.
The brand’s co-founder and chief innovation officer, Cassandra Curtis, said that as a working mother, she noticed a shortage of fresh, organic plant-based prepared baby foods.
“It troubled me that I myself did not want to eat the foods that shelf-stable brands promised me to be the best for my babies,” she pointed out. “It was this dilemma that inspired me to create the first organic, cold-pressed baby food company.”
Curtis added that the absence of high-temperature pasteurisation helps to maintain key nutrients, flavours and textures, which is also important for nutrition, palate development and food preferences later in life.
“Our baby portfolio is created to cover all developmental milestones while also offering flexibility for whatever feeding journey parents want to go on – across refrigerated pouches, freshly frozen plant-based meals and pantry snacks,” she said.
Once Upon A Farm is best known for its refrigerated cold-pressed pouches, crafted with organic fruits and vegetables. Its recent expansion into the snacks category includes fruit and veggie ‘puffs’ and a refrigerated oat bar introduced last year.
The ‘puffs’ format is particularly popular for encouraging self-feeding. Little Spoon, another US-based brand, has also entered this space with its new ‘baby puffs’ line, featuring only six organic, plant-based and gluten-free ingredients.
Angela Vranich, co-founder and chief product officer at Little Spoon, said: “We worked with a speech pathologist who helped us zero in on the texture, meltability and shape of the final puffs. Our puffs are large enough to be grasped to allow for a self-feeding experience, which helps babies to develop their hand-to-mouth skill.”
The puffs are made with ancient grains such as sorghum and sprouted quinoa, with nutrient-rich fruits and vegetables to expose babies to a variety of flavours early in life. Variants include Kale and Apple Curls and Banana and Pitaya Rings.
“We are meticulous about the sources of our ingredients, and with heavy metals being a constant concern for parents, we were sure to not use any grains or ingredients that are known to have elevated levels of these elements,” Vranich said.
She concluded: “We certainly see parents loving all plant-based options we have to offer at Little Spoon, and we’re working on many more exciting offerings in the plant-based space. What’s most important though is ensuring children are getting the critical nutrients needed for their development
and growth.”
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