When offering your loved one a new food, or consuming it yourself, it’s only natural to want to understand what it is made of. This post is designed to give deeper insight into Neocate ingredients and why they are included.
What are the components of Neocate® Junior?
Neocate ingredients are carefully selected to bring you a safe, nutritionally complete, and great-tasting formula.
Neocate ingredients list can be organized into 5 main categories: protein, carbohydrate, fiber, fat, and vitamins and minerals. Let’s take a deeper dive into each category of Neocate ingredients below and answer some of your most asked questions.
What protein is used in Neocate?
Neocate formula is classified as an amino acid-based formula. This means Neocate uses only amino acids as the source of protein. Amino acids are the building blocks of protein and they are a non-allergenic option to replace whole protein and peptides that could elicit an allergic reaction. Learn more about Neocate difference.
How do the amino acids in Neocate Junior compare to those in whole food?
Over time, scientists have identified the nutrients in foods that are required for the growth and maintenance of a healthy body. One of the nutrients is protein. The body uses protein to build and maintain muscles and it is found in foods, such as eggs, meat, poultry, fish, milk, and milk products. The protein found in these foods is made of small molecules called amino acids, they are the building blocks of protein. When the body digests protein, it breaks it down to small individual amino acids so they can be absorbed and used by the body.
Whole food ingredients may contain whole protein allergens that might make your child with food allergies react with symptoms. Scientists have identified and carefully processed the mixture of amino acids found in protein foods to be non-allergenic. These non-allergenic, free amino acids do not trigger an allergic reaction by the body’s immune system. They’re so small that the immune system can’t “see” them the way it sees whole proteins. Neocate’s amino acids are carefully processed to ensure that all allergens are removed, so they can nourish and support the growth of your child with food allergies.
The amount of protein in our Neocate Junior products is based on scientific recommendations of experts that set nutrition guidance for the world and North America to ensure health and growth for children. The total level of protein for our Neocate Junior products designed for those over the age of 1, is approximately 12% of energy from protein. This level is in line with the protein ranges outlined by North American Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs) Acceptable Macronutrient Distribution Ranges (5-20% for 1-3 years old and 10-30% for 4-18 years old). The North American DRI’s are established for the United States and Canada by the National Academies’ Institute of Medicine located in Washington, DC.
What carbohydrates does Neocate formula use?
Carbohydrates are essential fuels for the body and are needed to help make a nutritionally complete formula. Standard infant formulas most often contain lactose from milk as their carbohydrate. However, this ingredient would not be suitable for kids with milk allergies. Corn syrup solids, like lactose, provide energy in the form of carbohydrates but are safer for those with milk and multiple food allergies.
How do the Corn Syrup Solids in Neocate compare to High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) and high carbohydrate foods?
Though they sound similar, corn syrup solids are NOT the same thing as High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS). HFCS is a sugar source used to sweeten standard foods and beverages (such as candies, juices and sodas). High fructose corn syrup is made when some of the glucose molecules in corn starch are chemically changed to fructose to taste sweeter.
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Can corn syrup elicit an allergic reaction from my child with food allergies?
Neocate ingredients (e.g. amino acids, oils, carbohydrates) are carefully chosen with strict criteria to help ensure there is no allergenic risk. All corn ingredients in Neocate undergo a strict refining process designed to remove the protein and fat that are naturally present in corn. Since the protein part of the food is what the body responds to in a typical allergic reaction, the removal of corn protein takes away this potential trigger.
Leading experts in allergy management say that corn syrup is tolerated by individuals with corn allergies.1 Refined corn syrup is generally not restricted in the diets of individuals with corn allergies.
If you have further concerns about the corn syrup solids in Neocate, its best to discuss this with your little one’s healthcare professional to see if a supervised trial of Neocate is needed.
To learn more about the carbohydrates in Neocate.
What is fiber?
Fiber is a short word that describes a lot of different compounds. In general, dietary fiber comes from plant-based foods. Fiber comes in many different forms and is found in a variety of foods. The best food sources of fiber are fruits, vegetables, legumes (like beans, soy, and peanuts), nuts, seeds, and whole grains. Specifically, fiber is a type of complex carbohydrate. Unlike other carbohydrates – think sugars and starches – the human body can’t digest fiber. Among its many important functions, fibers can help support bowel regularity and digestive health.
There are two types of dietary fiber: soluble and insoluble. Soluble fiber is highly fermentable and dissolves in water, forming a gel during digestion. Insoluble fiber is not generally fermentable and does not dissolve in water, traveling through the GI system unchanged (eg. celery, corn).
Prebiotics are a special kind of soluble fiber that is resistant to digestion and selectively feeds the “friendly bacteria” in our digestive tracts. These bacteria are beneficial to our health. By nourishing the growth of friendly bacteria, prebiotics inhibit the growth of the “bad bacteria”.
Neocate Junior with Prebiotics adds prebiotics in the form of fructooligosaccharides (also known as “inulin-type fructans”) for our prebiotic fiber blend. These prebiotics are made from chicory root and are slowly digested in the gut by microbes. This type of prebiotic or soluble fiber helps promote the growth of “good” or beneficial microbes in the gut, which then can help support digestive health.
Why is there fat in Neocate Junior?
Fat provides the body with fuel and essential fatty acids for growth and development. All fats are made of fatty acids that vary in size or length. The fat sources in Neocate ingredients include refined Vegetable Oil (Medium Chain Triglycerides (Palm Kernel and/or Coconut Oil)), High Oleic Sunflower Oil, Sunflower Oil, Canola Oil. These oils are refined to remove protein, the part of foods that can trigger allergic reactions. Notably, Neocate doesn’t contain added soy oil and is one of few amino acid-based formulas on the market without it.
What is MCT oil?
MCT oil is a type of fat and stands for medium chain triglycerides. This oil is made from palm kernel and/or coconut oil but it has fewer longer fatty acids and are more readily absorbed. This type of fat is helpful for those children who have difficulty absorbing fats.
What other nutrients are in Neocate Junior to help ensure that all my child’s nutritional needs are met?
Neocate Junior contains 29 vitamins and minerals to ensure that it is nutritionally complete to help meet the needs of children, aged one and older. The type and amounts of vitamins and minerals in the formula are based on the Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs). The DRIs were established to identify how much of each nutrient healthy people of all ages require, including children. Neocate’s Junior formula meets the DRI recommendations for children using Neocate as sole source nutrition and helps those who use Neocate as supplementation reach their DRIs too.
Below are the vitamins and minerals in the Neocate Junior ingredient list along with their common name that you may recognize:
- Vitamins & Minerals – Nutritionally complete with 29 vitamins and minerals
- Vitamin A (Vitamin A Acetate)
- B Vitamins
- Vitamin B1 (Thiamin Chloride Hydrochloride)
- Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin)
- Vitamin B3 (Niacinamide)
- Vitamin B5 (Calcium D-Pantothenate)
- Vitamin B6 (Pyridoxine Hydrochloride)
- Vitamin B7 (D-Biotin)
- Vitamin B9 (Folic Acid)
- Vitamin B12 (Cyanocobalamin)
- Vitamin C (Ascorbyl Palmitate, L-Ascorbic Acid)
- Vitamin D (Vitamin D3)
- Vitamin E (DL-Alpha Tocopheryl Acetate)
- Vitamin K (Phylloquinone)
- Minerals
- Calcium Calcium Carbonate, Calcium D-Pantothenate, Tricalcium Phosphate, Calcium Chloride
- Iron Ferrous Sulfate
- Zinc Zinc Sulfate
- Magnesium Magnesium Chloride
- Other Minerals Dipotassium Phosphate, Tripotassium Citrate, Trisodium Citrate, Sodium Chloride, Magnesium Hydrogen Phosphate, Manganese Sulfate, Cupric Sulfate, Potassium Iodide, Chromium Chloride, Sodium Molybdate, Sodium Selenite
- Additional nutrients Choline Bitartrate, M-Inositol
What is the benefit of Neocate formulas versus those made with whole food ingredients?
Neocate formulas have been used in food allergy and related gastrointestinal and allergic conditions for over 35 years, and have been clinically shown to support growth, tolerance, and adherence. Formulas made from whole food may not be appropriate for children with severe allergies. A child may react to allergens that may be present in formulas with whole foods and, unlike Neocate, these formulas have not undergone rigorous testing for hypoallergenicity.
Do you have other questions about Neocate ingredients? Don’t hesitate to leave your comment in the section below and our nutrition specialists will be happy to assist.
References
- Groetch M, Nowak-Wegrzyn A. Practical approach to nutrition and dietary intervention in pediatric food allergy. Pediatr Allergy Immunol 2013: 24: 212–221.
