There’s a really interesting article in the New York Times today about Similac Organic infant formula. Turns out babies love it not because they came out of the womb as yuppies who turn up their noses at non-organic milk replacement but instead because it’s got real cane sugar in it. Real cane sugar, or sucrose, is much sweeter than sugars used in other formulas. This could maybe, possibly cause future problems.

“No health problems in babies have been associated with Similac Organic. But to pediatricians, there are risks in giving babies cane sugar: Sucrose can harm tooth enamel faster than other sugars; once babies get used to its sweeter taste, they might resist less sweet formulas or solid foods; and some studies suggest that they might overeat, leading to rapid weight gain in the first year, which is often a statistical predictor of childhood obesity.”

These mights and maybes have led the European Union to develop a ban on sucrose sweetened formulas except in rare cases prompted by allergies. This ban, which goes into effect in 2009, seems more than a little reactionary to me. I think the Europeans are overreacting a little bit because we’ve been dealing with a childhood obesity epidemic in America for quite a while now and our kids have gotten fat mostly without the aid of sucrose sweetened infant formulas.

Of course it’s probably not much of a stretch to say that the standard American way of eating, you know fast food, processed foods, infrequent eating of fresh fruits and vegetables, and its increasing popularity in Europe might be one of the major causes of childhood obesity that the Europeans are fretting so much about. It’s much harder to combat the creep of cultural influences in our globally connected word than it is to blame sucrose laced baby formula though. So yeah, childhood obesity? Totally organic baby formula’s fault.