Compare Prices and Nutrients of Baby Formula Brands in UK

Our first baby was breast-fed exclusively for nine months before I returned to work. We then fed her Heinz Farley's follow-on milk until she switched to regular whole milk at 12 months old.

When I chose formula at Tesco, I didn't bother to study ingredients of various brands available. I think nutrients in different formula brands are similar. I just picked the cheapest one available. Farley's was the cheapest baby milk then, about £5 per 900g tin.

Due to the trauma in the labor of my second child, I didn't produce enough breast milk to enable exclusive breast feeding. Our second baby is mix-fed. When it comes to choose the baby milk, I found that Heinz Farley's baby milk had just been discontinued and replaced with a fancy milk with extra pro-biotics etc and re-packaged at the cost of £7.95, which now becomes the most expensive one.

In terms of nutrients, milk-based formula takes account of the fact that breast milk is richer in whey, lactose, vitamin C, niacin, and long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids compared to cow's milk but leaner in milk protein.

I compare ingredients of these brands, highlighting four ingredients: polyunsaturates, omega 3, niacin, and vitamin K.

I compare prices of newborn milk 900g package at Tesco:

Hipp Organic £5.50 

Cow & Gate £6.98

SMA £7.21

Aptamil £7.92

Heinz £7.95

Typical Values Per 100ml feed

Energy 283kJ 

Protein 1.6g 

Carbohydrate 7.9g 

Of which sugars (lactose) 7.9g 

Fat 3.3g 

Of which saturates 1.2g 

polyunsaturates 0.7g 

of which linoleic acid 0.6g 

linolenic acid (omega-3) 0.07g 

Fibre Nil 

Sodium 0.02g 

Vitamin A 73µg 

Vitamin D 0.9µg 

Vitamin E 0.41mg 

Vitamin C 8.6mg 

Thiamin (vitamin B1) 0.06mg 

Riboflavin (vitamin B2) 0.07mg 

Niacin 0.96mg 

Vitamin B6 0.06mg 

Folic Acid 4.9µg 

Vitamin B12 0.14µg 

Biotin 1.5µg 

Pantothenic Acid 0.45mg 

Vitamin K 4.1µg 

Calcium 71mg 

Phosphorus 43mg 

Iron 0.6mg 

Magnesium 7.4mg 

Zinc 0.5mg 

Iodine 8.1µg 

Potassium 84mg 

Chloride 51mg 

Copper 20µg 

Typical Values per 100ml feed

Energy 275kJ 

Protein 1.3g 

Carbohydrate 7.3g 

of which sugars 7.2g 

of which Lactose 7g 

Fat 3.5g 

of which saturates 1.5g 

of which polyunsaturates 0.6g 

y-linolenic acid (GLA) omega 3 1mg 

LCPs 18mg 

Arachidonic Acid (AA) 7mg 

Docosahexaenoic Acid (DHA) 7mg 

Fibre 0.8g 

Sodium 0.02g 

Vitamin A 55µg (RE) 

Vitamin D 1.2µg 

Vitamin E 1mg (a-TE) 

Vitamin C 8.3mg 

Thiamin (B1) 0.05mg 

Riboflavin (B2) 0.1mg 

Niacin (B3) 0.43mg 

Vitamin B6 0.04mg 

Folic Acid 12µg 

Vitamin B12 0.18µg 

Biotin 1.5mg 

Pantothenic acid 0.33mg 

Vitamin K 4.5µg 

Calcium 50mg 

Phosphorus 28mg 

Iron 0.53mg 

Magnesium 5mg 

Zinc 0.5mg 

Iodine 12µg 

Potassium 63mg 

Chloride 41mg 

Copper 40µg 

Manganese 7.5µg 

Selenium 1.5µg 

Fluoride <10µg 

Choline 10mg 

Taurine 5.3mg 

Nucleotides 3.2mg 

Typical Values per 100 ml feed

Energy 281 kJ 

Protein 1.4 g 

of which, whey 0.84 g 

of which, alpha-lactalbumin 0.22 g 

of which, casein 0.56 g 

Carbohydrate 7.3 g 

of which, sugars 7.3 g 

of which, lactose 7.3 g 

Fat 3.6 g 

of which, saturates 1.6 g 

of which, unsaturates 2.0 g 

of which, LCPs 19 mg 

Arachidonic Acid (AA) 12 mg 

Docosahexaenoic Acid (DHA) 7 mg 

Fibre Nil 

Sodium 0.016 g 

Vitamin A 78 µg 

of which, beta-carotene 2.5 µg 

Vitamin D 1.1 µg 

Vitamin E 0.74 mg 

Vitamin C 9 mg 

Thiamin 0.1 mg 

Riboflavin 0.15 mg 

Niacin 0.9 mg 

Vitamin B6 0.06 mg 

Folic Acid 8 µg 

Vitamin B12 0.2 µg 

Biotin 0.002 mg 

Pantothenic Acid 0.3 mg 

Vitamin K 6.7 µg 

Choline 10 mg 

Inositol 4.5 mg 

Taurine 4.7 mg 

Nucleotides 3 mg 

Calcium 42 mg 

Phosphorus 24 mg 

Iron 0.8 mg 

Magnesium 4.5 mg 

Zinc 0.6 mg 

Iodine 10 µg 

Chloride 43 mg 

Copper 0.033 mg 

Potassium 65 mg 

Selenium 1.4 µg 

Typical Values per 100ml feed

Selenium 1.5µg 

Fluoride <10µg 

Choline 10mg 

Taurine 5.3mg 

Nucleotides 3.2mg 

Energy 275kJ 

Protein 1.3g 

Whey 0.8g 

Casein 0.5g 

Carbohydrate 7.3g 

- sugars (lactose) 7.0g 

Fat 3.5g 

- saturates 1.5g 

- polyunsaturates 0.6g 

- LCPs 23mg 

- Arachidonic Acid (AA) 12mg 

- Docosahexaenoic Acid (DHA) 7mg 

Fibre 0.8g 

Sodium 0.02g 

Vitamin A 55µg (RE) 

Vitamin D3 1.2µg 

Vitamin E 1.1mg (aTE) 

Vitamin C 8.3mg 

Thiamin (B1) 0.05mg 

Riboflavin (B2) 0.1mg 

Niacin (B3) 0.43mg 

Vitamin B6 0.04mg 

Folic Acid 12µg 

Vitamin B12 0.18µg 

Biotin 0.002mg 

Pantothenic acid 0.33mg 

Vitamin K1 4.5µg 

Calcium 50mg 

Phosphorus 28mg 

Iron 0.53mg 

Magnesium 5mg 

Zinc 0.5mg 

Iodine 12µg 

Potassium 63mg 

Chloride 41mg 

Copper 40µg 

Manganese 7.5µg 

Heinz Nurture is the replacement of Farley's. It doesn't disclose the ingredients, but Heinz claims that it contains alpha-lactaburmin and is the only range of standard infant milk formula to include Betapol which reduces constipation in formula fed infants.

We tried SMA and Hipp Organic in Dory's first month. SMA has a strange fishy smell, probably because of the fish oil it contains. Hipp Organic has a proper smell of rich fresh milk; it is organic, and most of all, the cheapest, so we finally fix on this brand. Maybe it's a good idea to stock up some, just in case it plays the same trick as Heinz did.