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In 1865, Justus von Liebig invented Soluble Food for Babies. It was the world's first commercial substitute for breastmilk, and it has helped to shape the modern workplace.

Not every baby has a mother who can breastfeed. Indeed, not every baby has a mother. In the early 1800s, only two in three babies who weren't breastfed lived to see their first birthday. Many were given "pap", a bread-and-water mush, from hard-to-clean receptacles that teemed with bacteria. But in 1865 Justus von Liebig invented 'Soluble Food for Babies' - a powder comprising cow's milk, wheat flour, malt flour and potassium bicarbonate. It was the first commercial substitute for breastmilk and, as Tim Harford explains, it has helped shape the modern workplace.

Producer: Ben Crighton
Editors: Richard Knight and Richard Vadon.

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15 minutes

Last on

Tue 11 Jul 2017 12:04

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  • Tue 11 Jul 2017 12:04

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