Jun
20
2011

Roses are red, violets are blue, sugar is sweet…

So why should we need so much of you?

Are you as confused as me? First we read that there are up to 13 teaspoons of added sugar in our children’s growing up milk. Read here if you don’t know what I meant.

I googled for Added Sugar and got this

I clicked on that link and it reaffirms my fears. Aiyo! I don’t want to feed Ethan dead food! >_<

I wondered if Ethan’s growing up milk is really sweet so Darling volunteered to taste the milk..

He said it’s very sweet :(

The verdict? Too sweet! I got his eyes closed as he can’t bare looking at the milk he is about to drink! (Elo, if your anak can drink it, so can you okay?) Have you ever tasted your child’s growing up milk?

I also learnt something new today. I learnt to look at the growing up milk. The whiter and fluffier it is, the more added sugar it has as the added sugar makes the milk white and fluffy ala snow!

Fluffy milk… bad news again! :(

Snow white, snow bright,
Can you tell me what is right?

A good growing up milk should be moist, heavy and yellowish as an indication that it has more milk in it rather than added sugar.

I grew up knowing that sugar is sweet, sugar is sugar. But because of this added sugar issue I came to know that many different names for sugars are being used – natural sugars, added sugars, natural plant sugars, corn syrup solids, sucrose, and glucose syrup solids. They are all basically the same providing extra calories and all end up the same inside a child’s body.

So I was told that sugars are not necessarily bad and that our child actually needs them for energy? Well, too much of anything is not good right? The only naturally present sugar in growing up milk is lactose. Sugars from natural plant source are added sugar. If we already have sugar that is naturally present in the growing up milk (lactose), why do we need the additional added sugar? What purpose does it serve except for increasing the health risks in children now and in the future?

The natural lactose level in a glass of standard milk is approximately 11g-12g per serve. Remember we checked the label on Ethan’s growing up milk for ‘carbohydrate per serve’ and found the readings to be at an alarming 28.0? Anything higher than 11g-12 g is added sugars so just imagine what is in his milk!

There are people trying to convince us that kids need carbo hence those added sugars are doing them good. Kids need energy and they can get it from the naturally present sugar. What they don’t need are the added sugars.

Convince, confuse, con… I don’t want all that. I just want a peace of mind. I’ve been using my current milk for so long and am quite reluctant to change, but excessive sugar is very worrying and I really need to seriously think about it!

Tags: Added Sugar

About the Author: Merryn Tan

29 Comments + Add Comment

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Little Kit Boy June 20, 2011 at 6:38 pm

Yes…quite sakit kepala too but I believed most of the brands of formula milk now in the market also do have a certain level of added sugar. So if really wanna change, will have to source for the one with the lowest…but then also have to take into consideration of its other nutrition content.

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  Merryn June 20, 2011 at 6:54 pm
  
  So it is a battle for us moms now to find out what is right, right?
  
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claire June 20, 2011 at 7:06 pm

My kids are pass those milk… maybe that was why they were sort of "heavy weight" while they were young.. no wonder!!

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  Merryn June 20, 2011 at 9:49 pm
  
  LoL Claire! Yeah I remembered you posted your kids' pic when they were younger! OMG! CHUBBEY!!!!!!!!!!!
  
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vickylow June 20, 2011 at 7:50 pm

sigh, thinking to change my boy formula too. Wanna to boost his weight as he is so skinny. What to do, change or not…..eeeee

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  Merryn June 20, 2011 at 9:50 pm
  
  Vicky,
  
  He's skinny but not underweight right? Consult your paed?
  
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Yee Ling June 20, 2011 at 8:13 pm

by looking at de green spoon..i think Ethan n Elise also drinking the same brand of milk….heehheh…

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  Merryn June 20, 2011 at 9:50 pm
  
  Yee Ling,
  
  I know they drink the same milk as I saw you posted the same 'jacket' before :P
  
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suituapui June 20, 2011 at 9:56 pm

Another one posting on this! When I make milk, I add extra scoops of the powdered milk plus sugar some more, make thick-thick…add ice, itu baru best! LOL!!!

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  Merryn June 20, 2011 at 11:38 pm
  
  Aiyo Sir Arthur! Not healthy wei! Cut down your sugar lah… @_@
  
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Sumijelly June 20, 2011 at 11:02 pm

hahaha………. sanggup betul itu daddy minum susu itu..hahaha

suruh la Ethan yg bagi komen.. apa rasa dia?? manis kah susu dia?? hehehe

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  Merryn June 20, 2011 at 11:38 pm
  
  Ethan apa lagi? Suka sajer lah dia tu. Manis aper! Budak mana tak suka benda manis.. :(
  
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Christopher June 21, 2011 at 2:39 am

Eh… Consider breast milk la… Free somemore &nutritious and most importantly , no sugar added. :D

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  Merryn June 21, 2011 at 9:11 pm
  
  >_< My anak going to be FOUR dy lor! Breast milk! =_=
  
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[SK] June 21, 2011 at 7:40 am

yeah, i would have thought the milk powder for baby are just purely processed milk, and never have thot they have put in so much sugar in it.. that's a scary amount of extra sugar!! @_@

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  Merryn June 21, 2011 at 9:22 pm
  
  Yeah.. scary… @_@
  
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prince n princess mu June 21, 2011 at 1:12 pm

how come it's ‘carbohydrate per serve’ but not sugar per serve? I thought not all carbohydrate = sugar?????? Just wonder….

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chinnee June 21, 2011 at 9:04 pm

my boys are taking pediasure, but i cant get the results thru the sugar website. finally stopping them for good.

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  Merryn June 21, 2011 at 9:19 pm
  
  Chin nee, u stopping the boys from milk? why?
  
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chinnee June 21, 2011 at 9:22 pm

Merryn, i don't feel right about giving something so extremely sweet ler. They still take milk but very little. I m using normal cheap Fernleaf that hubby and I are drinking. We used to drink this kinda milk from young age, don't we? And my mum said its most safest as the milk comes from cow, not some oil palm made milk wor..haha

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  Merryn June 22, 2011 at 6:18 pm
  
  Yes Chin Nee,
  
  I feel the same. Expensive doesnt mean good right? We really need to study the content of the milk.. sigh…
  
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    Merryn June 22, 2011 at 6:18 pm
    
    I feel it's better we go buy a cow to get the freshest milk possible! LoL! :P
    
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sheohyan June 21, 2011 at 10:34 pm

My two girls, 7 and 5 are both stopped taking milk. They take MILO occasionally with a little bit of Fernleaf 3T. It is a controversial topic, whether taking milk is beneficial. I myself have also stopped taking milk, eversince I read that milk will cause acne.

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Hayley June 21, 2011 at 11:44 pm

Seems like all food these days are 'dangerous' hor? Dont know what else is safe now.. =_=

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  Merryn June 22, 2011 at 6:19 pm
  
  Yeah.. so unfortunate.. :(
  
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tekkaus June 22, 2011 at 1:06 am

Haha :D You made the scooped milk powder looked like shaved ice ler.

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Blackswan June 22, 2011 at 3:04 am

Hey Merryn, thks for dropping by Luxury Indulgence! & for sharing this post; it reminds me of my motherhood those days :) Time flies & my son's already 16!

Looking fwd to sharing.

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Chasing Food Dreams June 22, 2011 at 8:49 am

Gosh.. this has me thinking about what I m feeding my son too… :(

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peteformation June 22, 2011 at 3:53 pm

No wonder children are hyperactive nowadays!

Mama, susu satu, kurang manis ah!

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About Me

Home is where MY heart is.
I am a mother to two boys; Ethan and Ayden and a wife to Darling William. I'm a stay at home mum who blogs to break the monotony of life and to avoid feeling jaded. Would love to get to know all the Super Mommies and Daddies and Babies or Singles out there with the hope that we can learn more from each other. Most of all, I am a happy person, and I hope YOU are too.