Perhaps this title should pertain to ALL BABY FORMULAS in China. I was quite disappointed by what’s on the market over there.

So from the beginning: my 17 month old daughter drinks Mead Johnson Enfamil’s Next Step formula. And they should be darn happy for this too, because she goes through a large can a week. Most babies in US switch to cow’s milk by 1 year of age. That’s what my preceptor/baby’s pediatrician recommends. The main reason why we kept her on formula is because of my mother. She runs a daycare and she really believes that babies who stay on formula until age 2 gets sick less. It’s not really a big deal. But we figure we can afford it and we do travel so much, it would be more convenient with a baby that’s healthy all the time.

My baby’s pediatrician, who was also my preceptor, gets all these formula samples from all sorts of companies of course. He gives them all out as soon as he can. However, the Next Step is the one that he never gives out. He thinks it’s a scam and it’s just concentrated milk. So while I was on his rotation, he gave them all to me. My baby loved it. She loved it more than the first Enfamil. I’ve tasted both, Next Step does taste a lot better.

So we went to China for 3 weeks, I was almost adamant that we would not need to bring any formula. I’ve seen Enfamil brands on the shelves in China – shouldn’t it be the same thing? I’m so happy I listened to my mother in-law. We brought three 32 oz cans and two smaller sample size cans and that was almost not enough!

As we started to run low, we went to the local supermarkets. First we brought Enfagrow for 1 to 2 years of age. She hated it. She would take a sip and not drink the rest. No matter how hungry she was, she would not drink it. It was incredibly sweet. I don’t know what this company is thinking! It was like drinking corn syrup. How can China not have problems with baby diabetes with formula as sweet as this? As sweet as this – it’s also more dehydrating and dangerous for the baby than replenishing.

I can’t put all the blame on Mead Johnson. I also bought other brands while I was there just to compare, all of them were incredibly sweet. It’s obvious the main goal is to hook the babies. It’s disgusting.

Finally I bought a step down from Enfagrow, which is Enfapro for 6 to 12 months. It’s also very sweet and my daughter wouldn’t drink it as well unless I mixed it half with Next Step. This is how we made it through our last week and barely made it back to US with enough formula for my daughter.

While in China, I was getting so desperate, I emailed Mead Johnson just in case I was missing something. Maybe I was buying the wrong one. Maybe this isn’t their formula? It’s a knock-off?

They forward my email to a rep in China and this is the response I get – “Mead Johnson products which supplied at China market are made in China with import raw materials and under very strictly control and meet both China relative standard and Mead Johnson standard.”

I was very disappointed. I don’t understand why they can’t supply a product in China that’s the same as what they supply in US. I’m assuming that US has better standards, why can’t they meet that in China? I was so excited with the idea that I had picked a global brand, just to find that it’s completely different in China. Really can’t rely on just a brand name I guess.

I’m also very disappointed in all these formulas that are just way too sweet. Juvenile obesity and diabetes is a growing problem in China, and these companies are not helping. I’m glad drinking formula is not as commonplace in China for this reason, but it is a trend that is growing. The common thinking in China is that formula is getting better and better. But as a future doctor, if someone asked me, I would still recommend breast-feeding for sure, especially in China. And don’t trust Mead Johnson just because it’s label is on a can in China.