Costco blog/discussion forum

Costco sells three kinds of infant formula. The Kirkland Signature Infant Formula (Costco item number 31221), Enfamil Lipil, and Similac Advance. The Kirkland baby formula comes in a two can pack and is priced at about half the cost (per ounce) of the other two brands.

You probably want only the best for your baby, and might think that since the Kirkland baby formula costs less than the other baby formulas, it must be not as good. But that is not true. All infant formula sold in the United States is regulated by the FDA. (The FDA has a frequently asked questions about infant formula web page.) The nutritional requirements for baby formula are tightly regulated, and you can see from the table below that Kirkland, Enfamil, and Similac have nearly identical nutritional value.

We started with the Enfamil brand, and used it for a few months. One day we noticed black specks in the bottom of the bottle, after feeding the baby. After ruling out contaminated water and contamination of the opened can of Enfamil formula (we threw out the opened can), we came to the conclusion that the black specks were coming from the Enfamil formula.

I ended up returning two unopened cans of Enfamil to Costco. I also called Enfamil customer service number listed on the can complain. The man I spoke to knew exactly what I was talking about. He said the dark specks are almost certainly a result of the drying process, and they aren't harmful. They are essentially burnt grains of formula. He took my name and address and promised to ship me two new cans of formula for free. (They arrived about a week later.) He also said I could ship my cans back for free and their lab would look at them, but I already had returned them to my local Costco warehouse and bought some Kirkland Brand infant formula.

Here is the nutritional comparison: