Infant formula (Liebig's infant food)
Leche maternizada (alimento infantil de Liebig)
- Date
- 1865 · confidence medium
- Place
- Munich, Bavaria, Germany
- Credited to
- Justus von Liebig; Henri Nestle (1867)
- Field
- Life & health
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
Liebig patented a mix of cow's milk, wheat flour and malt, bicarbonate and potash that imitated human milk and sold as a powder or liquid. Nestle launched in 1867 its Farine lactee, sold from Vevey.
Milk-and-flour pap already existed; Liebig's formula starts the industry. Competition with Nestle was immediate.
What it led to
- the infant food industry
- an alternative to breastfeeding and wet nurses
- later debate on breastfeeding and marketing (Nestle)