HiPP Versus Holle: Which European Infant Formula is Healthier?
Written by:
Maia James

Below is an email I recently sent to a private client of mine. Since the number one question I receive is “What is the safest infant formula?,” I thought some of you might be interested in my analysis of the two safest brands of baby formula, HiPP vs. Holle (both from Europe). Note that whichever formula you choose, you should always use a water filter to remove chlorine (carcinogenic) and fluoride (linked with lowered IQ). (Here’s more on why you should get a filter and which ones I like.)
Dear E.:
So the bottom line is I would recommend Holle formula as the best option, but it’s not without some problems, unfortunately (yet again it becomes clear that nothing can compare with breastmilk). HiPP is superior in a few ways, but I’ll explain why ultimately I would go with Holle below.
Here’s what I considered when researching HiPP vs. Holle:
- Palm oil. Palm oil is an ingredient that a lot of people worry about (suspected to affect bone density), and both HiPP and Holle contain it. However, because they each contain a blend of other oils (like coconut and sunflower), I don’t think the amount is as concerning. They do both also contain rapeseed oil, otherwise known as canola oil, which is also somewhat controversial. It’s worth noting that Baby’s Only doesn’t contain palm oil–but it does contain soybean oil, which I don’t like, so not really a huge win.
- Aluminum issue. The HiPP ready-made formula is preferable to the HiPP powder because the latter has strangely high aluminum levels, although even the ready-man has borderline levels. (I can’t figure out why–possibly because it comes in aluminum pouches (within a cardboard box)). However, in general I actually DON’T like ready-made formulas because they contain soy lecithin (sometimes extracted with hexane…and soy is problematic anyway because of its estrogenic properties). On the other hand, the amount of lecithin is relatively small, and probably worth the trade-off. Note that the HiPP Growing Up milk in powder form actually has much lower levels of aluminum (but you can’t use that until after 12 months, and it does contain soy lecithin. Sigh). Bottom line here is go for ready-made or Growing Up milk if you do get HiPP, but with Holle you don’t have to worry about this.
- LCP oils. The addition of omega 3 and 6 oils in U.S. formulas is controversial because of the extraction methods (super complicated issue so I’ll spare you all the details). HiPP has these added oils, but I suspect the extraction methods are probably required to be cleaner in Europe. Unfortunately, I’ve been unable to get to the bottom of this, so it’s a question mark and potentially another negative for HiPP. And studies show that the addition of the oils doesn’t improve the nutrition for babies anyway, so their absence isn’t really a negative for Holle.
- Organic practices. Both of these companies have been around for more than 50 years, and the dairy products from both come from grass-fed, organic cattle, certainly of a higher quality that anything you get here. Holle farms are certified organic and biodynamic–which I’ll simplify by saying is like organic-plus, with very strict standards from the processing all the way to the packaging. Another point in the Holle column.
- Sugars. All formula has a lot of sugar (breastmilk is naturally quite sweet), and HiPP wins in this category, as it uses lactose as a sweetener, which is the best option (and also the most expensive). Holle uses maltodextrin (a plant-based sweetener), although it seems to use less of it than most American formula brands. And here’s an update from July 2015: Lebenswert is a newish formula under the Holle umbrella. The Stage 1 Lebenswert formula contains lactose instead of maltodextrin, and Lebenswert is now available at here!
- Prebiotics. This is another win for HiPP. Holle doesn’t contain these, and it’s one of the big things found in breastmilk but missing from formula.
Bottom line: Both HiPP and Holle are superior to American formulas, in my opinion. They lack many of the concerning ingredients found in most formula you get here, don’t have white sugar or corn syrup in them, and also skip some preservatives and the carrageenan found even in other organic formulas. If it were my baby, I would probably choose Holle because of the aluminum issues with HiPP–which to me is more concerning than the maltodextrin (the only major downside to Holle). The lecithin, biodynamic farming, and LCP oil issues further put Holle in the lead. And if you choose Stage 1 Lebenswert, you skip the maltodextrin as well.
Stay sane,


Maia, Founder & CEO
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200 responses to “HiPP Versus Holle: Which European Infant Formula is Healthier?”
What about the Holle goat milk formula? How does it stack up?
Hi, can I trust formuland.com to buy Holle?
I’m curious about why you ask this question. I am looking for a place to buy Holle products in the U.S. and came across a similar question elsewhere. Is there a problem with this company?
Hi ladies-
I am removing the recommendations of where to buy Holle formula until I am able to vet some of these online retailers. Stay tuned.I saw that you removed some of your website recommendations on where to buy these formulas. I purchased through Tora foods as well as Formuland via paypal. Both had minimal shipping costs but were over $30/box. It seemed safe especially with the paypal option but I saw that bioBaby24 does not have that option but is definitely the cheapest I’ve seen for Holle (around $20) (I would purchase Hipp because it is a better deal except my baby seems to be more gassy on it). Looking forward to seeing what you can find out about these sites.
Thank you so much for the feedback, Jeane! Yes, I don’t want to officially recommend any vendor until I have thoroughly vetted them. I have been having phone calls with many of them and will be coming out with an official recommendation soon!
I’ve ordered from http://www.biobaby24.com a few times. Located in NY (thats where they shipped from) and they definitely are the cheapest. Too bad they only sell Holle.
I’ve ordered from http://www.organicbabyfood24.com 🙂 My twins love Holle, very good packing, on time delivery, need some more. Will highly ecommend!
My aunt has been ordering from them with no complains. They are really quick and have most of the time Holle formula in stock. Because of the really high prices I would reccomend the shop http://www.neogno.com, which ships Holle formula directly from Germany. I always had newest batches comparing to those my aunt received. The only dissadvantage is the ammount of time it takes to receive the parcels. So I had to order 1,5 weeks in advance and before I went out of formula.
Chen NY
Do Hipp or Holle contain any added DHA? If so do we know their extraction method? Curious if they are using the non GMO method that Baby’s Only uses.
Also, what’s the best oatmeal for an infant? Preferably one sold in the US that is a true GMO-free oatmeal? Earth’s Best used hexane extraction in their DHA formulas but curious if their oatmeal is the same. I can’t seem to find this info anywhere!
Hi Vidhya-
It’s true that there is no guarantee about the aluminum levels of Holle–and the company has been unresponsive to my requests for more information because they say they are not allowed to sell their products in the US market. We continue to try to get additional information on all infant formulas and will post updates as we do! In the meantime, the best that parents can do is choose the safest formulas based on current research. This is part of what makes this issue so complicated!Hello.
I just found the aluminium study on biomedcentral.com and holle was not one of the products included in the test. Who know how much is in that formula? Several other European formulas were. I’m not sure of a study like this with u.s formula either.Hello
Do you know if the study about aluminium in baby food formula included holle? It is a lot in the hipp formula. But I wonder which products were included.
Thanks.Hello,
So these brands are thought to be safer/better than Baby’s Only DHA/ARA?
Hi! Yes, it is our opinion that these European brands are probably superior to Baby’s Only, although Baby’s Only is still a good choice for formula-feeders.
Holle is the best, closest to natural milk formula I’ve tried. No chalky, artificial smell, great formulation. All other major brand formulas we tried literally smelled like rotten eggs, or extremely chalky. I cringed at the smells. I had the hardest time giving those disgusting smelling formulas to my new born. But until I found Holle on http://www.organicbabyfood24.com I had no choice. 🙂
Actually that organic site is in Germany so I now buy Holle from bIobaby24 which is in NYC, USA! Unfortunately they don’t have HiPP.
Hi, can you tell me where “blobaby24” is? I’m trying to find it but don’t see anything on it. Thanks!
Sarah-I don’t think biobaby24 is legit. I wouldn’t order from them.
It’s terrible that we can’t buy safe infant formula in the U.S.
The ingredients in the U.S. brands are addictive poison. It’s no wonder half our kids are obese in America when we feed babies corn sugar.
The FDA should be shut down and replaced for failing to protect the American people. The fact that they actively prevent the sale of safe infant formula brands from Europe is disgusting.
The price of doner milk in the U.S. is also disgusting. I can’t believe they declared it a prescription drug so they can control it. Doner milk should be available free from people who wish to donate it so we wouldn’t need to poison our babies with this filth. America really sucks sometimes…
Though the comment is really old I would like to comment because I had some bad experience with ordering Holle from various stores. This way other parents can spare a lot of trouble stress and sleepless nights.
Our little one suffered in constipation issue previously. After doing lots of research with my husband we found out that in many cases the formula caused the issue. Holle and Hipp were 2 of the most recommended to switch to by other moms who had similar issues, all over the web. I first wanted to try Holle because they seem to have better organic production practices and because there was an article about aluminium in Hipp formula some time ago.
We finally ordered 2 boxes from ebay to give the Holle formula a try. It was a life saver. Our lo just loved Holle. No digestion problems anymore. No pooping problems. No more tummy upset. Finally a happy baby at home. In my opinion the formula smells fresh and clean almost smells like breastmilk and not cheesy like US formulas. Taste is really good too.
Due to financial constraints we had to find a cheaper source to feed our lo. We tried all 3 German stores that sell and ship Holle to the US. All 3 have prices that are really good compared to the overpriced US vendors. The main issue when ordering abroad is the time it takes for the parcel to arrive. So we had to contact the support and ask them how to proceed. Not all of them are competitive and do care about the customers. We had the best experience with http://www.neogno.com where the support is great. We had been waiting for 3 weeks for a parcel to arrive and wrote them an email that our formula was running out and explained that we couldn´t afford to order new at this moment. Supprisingly we had to pay just half of the cost and we got an expess shippment with 3 Holle formula boxes for our baby until the big order arrived. We have ordered 5 times in total and everything was well packed including free gifts in the parcel. Thank you again neogno.com for your customer oriented The main reason for taking so much time to write this review, besides the health of my baby, is that I dislike profit-oriented companies. A shop from Germany tried to sell to my husband Holle together with Aptamil which they recommended as organic and much better than Holle. The reason was Holle not being in stock. After writing Aptamil an email we found out that they don´t even produce an organic formula.To all parents out there, have faith and raise your lo with ❤❤❤
Chen NYHi there. I was reading on Kellymom that if buying formula (as in our case, as a backup “just in case”) we should be looking for a hydrolszed forumula so that the milk proteins are less prone to create allergies. Do you know if either of these are hydrolysed? Thanks, Jean
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