Researchers have linked Nutricia’s Neocate baby formula products to cases of bone fractures, rickets, and poor overall bone density.

Neocate formulas by Nutricia are sold as hypoallergenic nutrition for children with the following disorders:

• Food allergies to proteins found in milk, eggs, fish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat and/or soybeans;
• Cow milk allergy that can cause symptoms ranging from vomiting to rashes;
• Food protein-induced enterocolitis syndrome, often referred to as FPIES, is a type of food allergy that causes symptoms about two hours after eating the offending allergen, which commonly includes milk, soy, rice, and oats. Patients might exhibit vomiting, diarrhea, fatigue and low body temperature.
• Eosinophilic esophagitis is a condition that causes the white blood cells called eosinophils to collect in the esophagus, causing vomiting, reflux or difficulty swallowing. (The eosinophils normally act to fight infection.)
• Short bowel syndrome and malabsorption are due to the surgical removal of part of the small intestine, which is not related to food allergies but can cause digestive issues when regular food is ingested.

Among the Neocate formula products under investigation are:

• Neocate Syneo Infant
• Necoate Infant DHA/ARA
• Neocate Nutra
• Neocate Junior
• Neocate Junior with Prebiotics
• Neocate Splash

Yale University and Mayo Clinic Study of Neocate

Researchers from Yale University and the Mayo Clinic investigated Neocate baby formula and how infants responded to the elemental formula. Their study was published in April 2017 in the medical journal Bone, which detailed that those infants relying solely on Neocate formula had low blood phosphate levels, a condition known as hypophosphatemia.

Researchers looked at the X-rays of 51 infants and toddlers and found 94 percent had indications of fractures, poor bone density or rickets.

While Neocate baby formula is supplemented with phosphate, the problem appears that the bodies are not absorbing the phosphate adequately. Nutricia reportedly is working on improving the phosphate formulation in its products to ensure better absorption is achieved.

Scientists have known since 2002 that phosphorus is just as important as calcium for solid bone development.

In the Yale and Mayo Clinic study, most children’s bone density, bone strength, and skeletal aberrations improved after they switched to a different formula that contained a bio-available form of phosphate.

Symptoms of Neocate Baby Formula Problems

A baby with rickets might appear to have floppy limbs, muscle spasms or bones that easily break. Another telltale sign is Harrison’s groove, a condition marked by the appearance of a horizontal line on the child’s chest where the diaphragm connects to the rib cage.

Other symptoms include thickened wrists and ankles and a projected breastbone.

Toddlers who walk bow-legged or knock-kneed, complain of bone pain, exhibit small stature, or are underweight could be suffering from rickets. Blood tests will show low calcium levels in the blood.

Advanced cases of rickets cause cramps, seizures, and respiratory issues. In some cases, rickets can weaken the heart muscles.

Other Neocate Baby Formula Problems

In some cases, Neocate rickets has caused unexpected problems for parents.

In April 2018, Clarion-Ledger reported the story of Robbie E., a 10-year-old with cerebral palsy. Robbie was fed Neocate formulas through a feeding tube when he is not living in the hospital due to his medical problems.

Robbie’s father began to notice that Robbie was crying more often, pulling his left wrist close to his body, and guarding it as if in pain. When his father Bill E. took him to the hospital, he was told that Robbie had fractured his wrist.

Shortly after Robbie was diagnosed with a wrist fracture, local Child Protective Services (CPS) came for Bill claiming that the broken bone was a result of abuse. Because there was no obvious cause of the break and Bill could not provide an explanation, he was immediately suspected of abuse even though he had not done anything wrong.

In the following months, Bill was forced to fight CPS until he learned through a legal commercial that Neocate may be associated with unexplained bone breakage.

“I thought they might investigate other causes, the nurses, and the school, instead of me having to find out from a commercial,” Bill told the Clarion-Ledger. “If my daughter didn’t see that on that commercial, they’d have taken my kids away from me … We wouldn’t have known to raise hell about this.”

Although this situation is dramatic, it showcases that Neocate baby formula problems can have unexpected consequences on parents as well as children.