If you're a new mother, you've probably heard something about Nutramigen. Not that every infant will need this type of product, especially if she doesn't suffer from a sensitivity to milk- or soy-based formulas. But if you have a child with these sorts of allergies, you may have taken a serious look at Nutramigen.
Significance
Since Nutramigen comes in various forms (powder, concentrate and premixed), the actual makeup of the product will vary slightly. In powder form, you'll find the mixture made up of predominately (46 percent total) corn syrup solids, which are basically sugars produced through the dehydration of liquid corn syrup. The process of dehydration is initiated by introducing sulfur dioxide and other chemicals to the corn syrup. After corn syrup solids, the next ingredient is vegetable oil, coming in at about 25 percent and consisting of a mixture of palm, coconut, soy and sunflower oils. From there you'll find casein hydrolysate (essentially protein-reduced cow's milk) at 17 percent and modified corn starch at 7 percent. The rest of the ingredients come in at less than 2 percent of the composition and consist mostly of vitamins (A, D3, E, K1, B6 and B12).
Features
The concentrated form of Nutramigen has basically the same ingredients, just in different levels. Seventy-five percent of the concentrate will be made up of water. After water, you'll again have corn syrup solids, but this time coming in at only 10 percent. The amount of vegetable oil, casein hydrolysate and modified corn starch will all have been reduced to 7, 4 and 3 percent of the makeup, respectively. The rest of the product will be the same vitamins, minerals and other components as the powder formula, just in fewer amounts (only 1 percent or less).
Size
The premixed, or ready-to-use, variety will also have the same ingredients as the powder and the concentrate, but will vary in makeup depending on the size of the container. The 32- and 6-oz bottles will have 87 percent of the product made with water. All other ingredients will have been reduced with corn syrup solids at 5 percent, vegetable oil at 3 percent and both casein hydrolysate and modified corn starch at 2 percent. The rest of the ingredients will come in at 1 percent. For the 2-oz size, you'll find it consisting of 85 percent water, 6 percent corn syrup solids, 3 percent vegetable oil and 2 percent of both casein hydrolysate and modified corn starch with the rest of the ingredients again coming in at less than 1 percent each.
Effects
Typically, when an infant is placed on Nutramigen, they will experience a brief adjustment period, meaning they may not take to the formula right away. After a short time, they will begin to take it, though many times they will eat slightly less than your general formulas or breast milk, but still more than enough to be nourished.
Considerations
When deciding to put your infant on Nutramigen, or any formula for that matter, you may want to consider the nature of the product as well as consult your doctor and your pediatrician. They may have a more natural and/or organic substitute for your infant to consume on a daily basis.
Tags: corn syrup, corn syrup solids, syrup solids, casein hydrolysate, corn starch, less than