Publisher Drops ‘Paleo For Babies’ Cookbook, Because DIY Paleo Infant Formula Is A Terrible Idea

Pete Evans is an Australian chef and television personality who has a few cook books under his belt. He’s published books with titles like Going Paleo, Healthy Every Day, and Family Food. He decided to veer into the baby-food market for his newest collection of recipes, The Paleo Way For New Mums, Babies, and Toddlers. If you’re wondering what Paleo for babies looks like, it involves feeding your infant liver and bone broth as a replacement for formula.

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The book has been “delayed” by its publisher, Pan Macmillan Australia. That may have something to do with Heather Yeatman, the president of the Public Health Association of Australia, saying of the recipe book, “In my view, there’s a very real possibility that a baby may die if this book goes ahead.” Business Insider has some information about the book that helps explain why a public health official would react so strongly to it:

Last week, the Commonwealth Department of Health said it was investigating the book over concerns about ”the inadequate nutritional value of some of the recipes, in particular, the infant formula”.

The recipe involves a ”DIY” homemade baby milk formula containing liver and a bone broth that some experts claim is potentially dangerous to small children due to potentially high levels of vitamin A.

The book also contains a recipe for pate recipe for children aged 6 to 12 months, using beef or chicken livers, with Carr describing pate as ”a superfood for babies”.

‘DIY homemade baby milk formula’ should not be a thing. Unless you’re DIY-ing out of your boobs. How did this recipe get by an editorial staff? It reportedly contains more than ten times the safe level of vitamin A for babies. Yeaman told Women’s Weekly she thought if a baby was fed this, especially as a replacement for other milk, “the baby’s growth and development could be impaired.”

Evans clearly does not agree that his recipes are dangerous. (It should be noted that he believes processed foods cause autism.) Here’s an update he posted this morning about the book’s publication:

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There are some benefits to “fad” diets, as they somehow get through to people and get them thinking about what they are putting into their bodies and their overall health. That can be a good thing. Following recipes for your infant by someone who’s made a living promoting one of these fads is maybe not so great, though. When it comes to what you are feeding your infant, trusting a celebrity chef instead of a doctor may not be sound decision-making. Since the book appears to be going on to publication, hopefully parents can see past Evans’ celebrity status and remember he’s not a doctor.

(photo: Facebook)

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