Most baby formula in the 1960s was surprisingly simple: evaporated milk, water, and corn syrup or table sugar. An estimated 80% of bottle-fed infants in the United States in 1960 were drinking some version of this homemade mixture, though commercially manufactured formulas were gaining ground. The ingredients in both options looked nothing like the long, complex labels on modern formula cans.
The Evaporated Milk Recipe
The standard homemade formula of the era called for 13 ounces of evaporated milk mixed with 19 ounces of water and two tablespoons of either corn syrup or table sugar. That was it. Corn syrup had replaced table sugar as the go-to carbohydrate source during the Great Depression because it was cheaper and more widely available, and by the 1960s it was the default choice for most families. This recipe had been the dominant way to feed a bottle-fed baby from the 1940s onward.
Evaporated milk worked better than fresh cow’s milk for infants because the high-heat canning process broke down some of the proteins, making them slightly easier for a baby’s immature digestive system to handle. It was also shelf-stable and inexpensive, which mattered enormously to families. But the formula was still fundamentally cow’s milk with added sugar and water. It lacked adequate amounts of iron, vitamin C, vitamin D, and essential fatty acids. Doctors typically prescribed separate vitamin drops and iron supplements to fill the gaps, though not every family followed through.
What Commercial Formulas Contained
Commercial formulas available in the 1960s were more sophisticated than the evaporated milk recipe, but still far simpler than today’s products. They were built on a cow’s milk base, with manufacturers adjusting the protein, fat, and sugar content to better resemble human breast milk.
One of the key differences was in the fat source. As early as 1919, a formula called SMA (“simulated milk adapted”) had replaced milk fat with a blend of animal and vegetable fats, since the fat in cow’s milk is harder for infants to absorb than the fat in human milk. Competitors followed suit. Similac was developed by experimenting with cow’s milk combined with varying amounts of vegetable oils, calcium and phosphorus salts, and different concentrations of lactose (milk sugar). Nestlé produced a competing formula called Lactogen that also used vegetable-oil-derived fat blends.
These commercial products typically came as concentrated liquids or powders that parents mixed with water. They offered a more balanced nutritional profile than the homemade evaporated milk recipe, but they were still missing components that scientists hadn’t yet identified as important for infant development.
What Was Missing
The biggest nutritional gap in 1960s formula, both homemade and commercial, was iron. Iron-fortified formulas existed but were not widely used. Iron deficiency was prevalent among infants throughout the decade. It wasn’t until the 1970s and beyond that iron-fortified formulas became the norm, driven by growing awareness that iron deficiency in infancy could cause lasting developmental problems.
Two fatty acids now considered essential for brain and eye development, DHA and ARA, were completely absent from all infant formulas in the 1960s. These omega-3 and omega-6 fats are naturally present in breast milk, but they weren’t added to U.S. formulas until 2002. Babies fed formula in the 1960s received none of these fats from their primary food source.
Modern formulas also contain prebiotics, probiotics, nucleotides, and dozens of micronutrients calibrated to match breast milk as closely as possible. None of this existed in the 1960s. The gap between what a breastfed baby received and what a formula-fed baby received was much wider than it is today.
Soy Formula in the 1960s
Soy-based formula was available for babies who couldn’t tolerate cow’s milk, though it was far less refined than current versions. The first soy formula, made from soy flour, had been on the market since 1929. By the 1960s, manufacturers were improving these products, but soy formulas of this era still used cruder protein sources than the soy protein isolates found in modern formulas. They served an important role for infants with milk allergies or lactose intolerance, though they were a small share of the overall market.
How Feeding Practices Differed
The ingredients tell only part of the story. Feeding practices in the 1960s were dramatically different from today’s guidelines. Breast-feeding rates were at historic lows, having declined steadily since the 1930s. Cow’s milk and solid foods were routinely introduced far earlier than current recommendations suggest, sometimes within the first few weeks of life. Few infants were still receiving breast milk or formula after four to six months of age. The combination of early weaning, low iron intake, and nutritionally incomplete formulas meant that iron deficiency and other nutritional shortfalls were common problems pediatricians dealt with regularly.
Sterilization was another concern. Parents were instructed to boil bottles, nipples, and water before preparing formula, a process that added significant daily labor. The shift toward ready-to-feed and pre-sterilized commercial formulas in later decades eliminated much of this work, but in the 1960s, careful preparation was essential to avoid bacterial contamination.
How 1960s Formula Compares to Today
A 1960s formula, whether homemade or commercial, provided calories, basic protein, fat, and carbohydrates. It kept babies alive and growing. But it was a blunt instrument compared to modern formulas, which contain upward of 30 individually calibrated nutrients. The protein in 1960s formulas was less digestible. The fat blends were less well-matched to human milk. Iron was often inadequate. Brain-building fatty acids were absent entirely. And the most common “formula” wasn’t a manufactured product at all, just canned milk, water, and sugar mixed at the kitchen counter.
The generation of babies raised on these formulas largely grew up healthy, but population-level rates of iron deficiency anemia and other nutritional problems were measurably higher than they are today. The evolution of infant formula from that simple three-ingredient recipe to the highly engineered products on modern shelves represents one of the quieter but more consequential shifts in pediatric nutrition over the past half-century.