GMO-free Similac infant formula for sale by end-May

New York

THE maker of Similac Advance, the top commercial baby formula brand in the United States, says that it will begin selling the first mainstream baby formula made without genetically altered ingredients by the end of the month at Target.

Similac's maker, the global health care company Abbott, said that it would first offer a "non-GMO" version of its best-selling Similac Advance, followed by a non-GMO version of Similac Sensitive. Depending on sales, Abbott may offer other formulas free of such ingredients.

Abbott will join a growing number of companies offering popular products without genetically modified organisms. Consumer demand for such products has been growing, despite a concerted and expensive effort by trade groups representing major food manufacturers and the biotech industry to convince them that genetically altered ingredients are not harmful to human health.

"We listen to moms and dads, and they've told us they want a non-GMO option," said Chris Calamari, general manager of Abbott's pediatric nutrition business. "We want to make sure we meet the desires of parents." A new online study of 1,829 adults selected by Fluent, a consumer marketing and advertising firm, found that nearly one in five of them said that they preferred non-GMO products.

"The preference for non-GMO products in particular is more pronounced amongst shoppers with higher household incomes and with shoppers based in the Northeast," said Matt Conlin, a founder and the president of Fluent.

Most mainstream baby formula is made from various corn and soy derivatives, and more than 90 per cent of those crops in America are grown from genetically altered seeds.

Over the last few years, consumers have petitioned Abbott and other big makers of infant formula to remove genetically altered ingredients.

That movement, Mr Calamari said, had nothing to do with the introduction of non-GMO versions of Similac, though. Rather, he said, the company's own research had prompted the decision.

"Over one third of consumers say it would have appeal to them and give them peace of mind," he said.

As consumer interest in improving health through nutrition has grown, Abbott has also begun moving to sell more of its products beyond niche audiences. For instance, the company recently began marketing Pedialyte, an oral electrolyte solution that has long been recommended for sick children by paediatricians, to adults.

"We've known that we always had an underground movement of adults who used it for various purposes," said Lindsy Delco, a spokeswoman for Abbott. "We recently started digging into that and found that since 2012, one-third of our sales" are for adult use.

Abbott already has a non-GMO version of Similac in Similac Organic. By law, organic products cannot contain genetically altered ingredients, but consumers are not always aware of that rule.

In the 52 weeks that ended March 28, sales of all baby formulas totalled just over US$4 billion in the United States, according to Nielsen, a market research company.

Mark Kastel, a founder of the Cornucopia Institute, an organic advocacy and research group, said that he was pleased that a major baby formula company would be offering a product free of genetically modified ingredients.

"Since formula is really the only thing infants eat for some time," Mr Kastel said, "parents are more concerned about feeding them products that are largely made from GMO ingredients". NYT