Baby & children · Organic
Earth's Best Organic Infant Dairy Baby Formula - 21oz: Brain Development, Immune System Support, Eye Development
Earth's Best · owned by The Hain Celestial Group, Inc.
NOVA 1 · unprocessed or minimally processed
FDA warns against homemade infant formula and against diluting formula to stretch it — both have caused hospitalisations. Powdered formula is not sterile: for young or immunocompromised infants, follow the preparation and storage instructions exactly (the 2022 Cronobacter recalls are why those instructions exist).
Formula is scored on the food formula with extra weight on pesticide residue and additives, because exposure matters more per kilogram of body weight in the first years.
Chemistry breakdown
Bar length = weight in the Baby & children formula · color = that component's score · tap a name to learn what it means.
Pesticide residue8/10 · 39% weight
Residues left on produce and grains from how the crop was farmed. Organic certification prohibits synthetic pesticides, which is why the same fruit can rate very differently by farming method.
Additives7/10 · 28% weight
Preservatives, colorants, emulsifiers and flavorings added in processing — each rated on its own evidence record, from benign (vitamin E as a preservative) to contested (certain synthetic dyes).
Ultra-processing (NOVA)9/10 · 17% weight
The NOVA scale classifies how industrially transformed a food is, from whole ingredients (1) to ultra-processed formulations (4). Population studies associate heavy ultra-processed diets with worse health outcomes independent of nutrients.
Oils & refined sugars8/10 · 8% weight
Refined oils and added sugars — rated by what they are: cold-pressed fruit oils and whole sweeteners like honey rate well; hydrogenated oils and high-fructose syrups rate poorly.
Certifications9/10 · 8% weight
Independent third-party verifications (USDA Organic, FSC, EPA Safer Choice…). Informational only — having none never lowers a score; verified claims can raise it.
Ingredients · 30
In label order — the first-listed ingredient counts most in the score. Tap any row for its sources.
- 8Organic Lactose#1 · Whole Food
- 8Organic Nonfat Milk#2 · Whole Food
- ?Organic oils (organic palm or palm olein, organic soy, organic coconut, organic high oleic safflower or sunflower oil)#3 · Whole Food
- 8Organic Whey Protein Concentrate#4 · Whole Food
- 8Schizochytrium sp. oil#5 · Oil
- ?Fructooligosaccharide#6 · Whole Food
- 9Lutein#7 · Vitamin Mineral
- 8L-carnitine#8 · Vitamin Mineral
- 7Vitamin a palmitate#9 · Vitamin Mineral
- 7Beta-carotene#10 · Vitamin Mineral
- 8Vitamin d (cholecalciferol)#11 · Vitamin Mineral
- 9Vitamin E (mixed tocopherols, natural)#12 · Vitamin Mineral
- 8Mixed tocopherol concentrate#13 · Vitamin Mineral
- 8Vitamin k (phytonadione)#14 · Vitamin Mineral
- 8Ascorbyl palmitate#15 · Vitamin Mineral
- 8Thiamine hydrochloride#16 · Vitamin Mineral
- 8riboflavin (b2)#17 · Vitamin Mineral
- 8Pyridoxine hydrochloride#18 · Vitamin Mineral
- 8Cyanocobalamin#19 · Vitamin Mineral
- 8Niacinamide#20 · Personal Care Active
- 7Folic Acid#21 · Vitamin Mineral
- 8Calcium pantothenate#22 · Vitamin Mineral
- 8Biotin#23 · Vitamin Mineral
- 8Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C)#24 · Vitamin Mineral
- 8Choline bitartrate#25 · Vitamin Mineral
- 8Inositol#26 · Vitamin Mineral
- 8Calcium Carbonate#27 · Personal Care Active
- 7Calcium chloride#28 · Vitamin Mineral
- 7Calcium hydroxide#29 · Additive
- 7Ferrous sulfate#30 · Vitamin Mineral
Made by
- 2021US House Oversight — heavy metals in commercial baby foods (Earth's Best) — The same Subcommittee report found Hain Celestial used ingredients that tested high for inorganic arsenic and lead in Earth's Best Organic products, and that the company tested ingredients rather than finished products — which can understate the level a child actually consumes. Marked negligent rather than intentional: the record establishes an inadequate testing regime, not documented knowledge of high finished-product levels that were sold anyway. Hain has since reported moving to finished-product testing.