Is Similac safe for babies with PKU?

ON Jan 1, 1999 at 12:00PM

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Does Similac with iron contain phenylalanine? Is it safe for a baby that has a questionable PKU result?

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Sue Gilbert

Sue Gilbert works as a consulting nutritionist. For many years she worked with Earth's Best Organic Baby Food, integrating nutrition and... Read more

There is phenylalanine in Similac with iron, so it would not be safe, as the sole source of nutrition, for a baby with PKU. Mead Johnson makes a product called Lofenalac, and Ross Laboratories makes Phenex-1, both of which are foods for infants with PKU. This medical food should supply 80 to 90 percent of the dietary protein and it should be supplemented with either breast milk or formula, which supply essential phenylalanine.

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