FACT CHECK: No, Raw Goat Milk Is Not A Healthy Alternative To Baby Formula

Trevor SchakohlMay 24, 2022

A post shared on Facebook claims raw goat milk is a healthy alternative to baby formula.

Verdict: False

Goat milk is not a healthy substitute for baby formula, according to medical experts.

Fact Check:

A military aircraft carrying approximately 78,000 pounds of baby formula from Germany arrived in Indiana on Sunday, according to NBC News. The delivery is part of a plan authorized by President Joe Biden to import more foreign baby formula to curb the ongoing national shortage.

An image shared on Facebook claims there may be an easier solution to the shortage. The image shows a screenshot of a tweet that reads, “My grandma couldn’t nurse one of her babies. She bought a goat and gave her baby raw goat’s milk. That baby is in her 90s and is as healthy as a horse. There’s a baby formula shortage? Buy a goat! It’s far healthier than baby formula.”

This claim is inaccurate. Goat milk is not a healthy alternative to baby formula, according to medical experts. (RELATED: Does This Photo Show Stacks Of Baby Formula Boxes At The Border In May 2022?)

“If you mean as a sole source of infant nutrition – This is a hard false,” said University of Rochester Assistant Pediatrics Professor Dr. Bridget Young in an email to Check Your Fact when asked about the claim.

Dr. Jenna Anding, a professor and extension specialist with the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service, concurred with this assessment. “Goat milk is not recommended as a substitute for infant formula,” she said in an email to Check Your Fact.

“Goat’s milk does not have the appropriate nutrition to help babies grow properly,” Yale Pediatric Primary Care Center Medical Director Dr. Maryellen Flaherty-Hewitt told Yale Medicine. She also advised readers not to make their own formula, which she claimed could cause “dangerous electrolyte imbalances.”

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has previously warned about raw milk, stating it can contain a “variety of disease-causing pathogens.” The agency specifically warns that raw dairy products are “particularly unsafe for children.”