text: Pete Evans' co-authored paleo diet cookbook for babies under investigation 
   
   Updated 
   
   A cookbook that recommends feeding infants bone broth as a baby formula is being investigated by the Federal Health Department and leading health groups say some of the book's recipes are potentially risky for babies. 
   
   The controversial paleo cookbook, Bubba Yum Yum: The Paleo Way For New Mums, Babies and Toddlers, was due to be released this week, but the publishers have had to put it on hold. 
   
   It was co-authored by Australian chef Pete Evans, nutritionist Helen Padarin and blogger Charlotte Carr. 
   
   Publisher Pan Macmillan Australia said the book had not been recalled, simply delayed for release. It would not comment further, and neither would the authors. 
   
   What is the Paleo or Stone Age diet? The Paleo diet is based on the idea that we should eat what we did when humans were hunter gatherers. 
   
   
   
   Foods included are lean meat, vegetables, fruit, eggs, and seafood. Those on a Paleo diet are encouraged to exclude grains, legumes, dairy products, refined sugar, salt and processed foods. 
   
   
   
   Although the Paleolithic or Stone Age diet first appeared in the 1970s, it has received renewed interest over the past few years. 
   
   
   
   It is claimed the diet reduces body weight and helps prevent conditions such as diabetes, high blood cholesterol, stroke, osteoporosis and inflammatory disease. 
   
   
   
   Most dietitians don't recommend the diet because it encourages high meat consumption, which has been linked to an increased risk of bowel cancer, and because it encourages people to cut out whole food groups (grains and dairy). Source: ABC Health and Wellbeing 
   
   Evans is a longtime advocate of the paleo diet, as is Carr. Her website said paleo healed what she wrote was her young son's "compromised immune system, reverse toxicity and illness". 
   
   One of her recipes for a "homemade formula" for infants up to six months of age is called the "Baby Building Broth". It is made using chicken bones, chicken feet and apple cider vinegar. 
   
   Professor Heather Yeatman from the Public Health Association said some of the recipes were potentially dangerous for infants. 
   
   "There appears to be recommendations not to use either breast milk or an approved infant formula, but to provide other foods to infants under six months of age and that really is a big health risk," Professor Yeatman said. 
   
   "There's been discussion about a beef broth with mashed up liver as part of a recipe. Now something like that might be appropriate for an older child, but under six months of age, really the best option [is] breast milk." 
   
   Rebecca Naylor from the Australian Breastfeeding Association said parents should follow tested feeding guidelines for their children. 
   
   "All of the experts that you will speak to would say that feeding your baby anything other than infant formula or breast milk under six months as their primary source of nutrition is extremely dangerous," Ms Naylor said. 
   
   The Federal Health Department said it is "aware of this publication and has concerns about the inadequate nutritional value of some of the recipes, in particular the infant formula". 
   
   It said it would "continue to investigate". 
   
   For personal trainer Drew Slater and his brother Ben, becoming paleo has transformed their lives for the better. 
   
   "It's a reasonably low carbohydrate diet and moderate fats and high protein for those who understand macros, but it's really just a real food diet," Mr Slater said. 
   
   They are standing by the paleo lifestyle. 
   
   "I don't believe in knocking something until you've tried it and my brother and I have tried a lot of different diets and fads and we really believe that this is the best solution for us," he said. 
   
   Mr Slater does not have children, but he said if he did, he would put them on a paleo diet. 
   
   "Kids these days are eating such high processed sugars and heavily refined carbohydrates," he said. 
   
   "It's really bad for their intestinal health and I think it's forming bad habits. My kids will definitely be eating a bone broth. I like to start my mornings with a bone broth." 
   
   Topics: diet-and-nutrition, health, babies, community-and-society, australia 
   
   First posted ||||| Off the table: Publisher dumps Pete Evans' baby and toddler cookbook. Photo: Supplied 
   
   The publication of a paleo baby cookbook, co-authored by celebrity chef Pete Evans, has been delayed, amid calls by leading health officials that its recipes could be potentially fatal to children. 
   
   Friday's release of Bubba Yum Yum: The Paleo Way has been postponed by publishers Pan Macmillan after concerns about the book's "bone broth" baby formula were raised with the federal Department of Health, The Australian Women's Weekly reported online. 
   
   Pete Evans will self-publish his paleo book for children after Pan Macmillan pulled out of its publication. Photo: Supplied 
   
   The recipe, called the "DIY baby milk formula", is a chicken liver based concoction containing no milk products, which the book claims "mimics the nutrient profile of breast milk". The recipe is marketed as a "wonderful alternative" to breast milk and the "next best thing" when breast milk is not an option. 
   
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   The claim has been slammed as "false and misleading" by Julie Smith, a health and economics expert at the Australian National University. 
   
   "I think the ACCC should be looking very hard at this particular claim. The commercial publisher aims to make money out of this book and I suspect they would have to consider very carefully the investigation that would ensue if they published it." 
   
   Dr Smith said evidence backed by the World Health Organisation clearly showed that expressed breast milk was the "next best thing" for the baby when breast-feeding was not an option. Failing that, commercial baby formula should be used, she said. 
   
   The DIY formula recipe potentially exposed babies to dangerous levels of vitamin A and inadequate levels of other nutrients, The Australian Women's Weekly reported. 
   
   Michael Moore, chief executive of the Public Health Association of Australia, said his organisation was among a consortium of health groups that had approached the book's publishers with their concerns. 
   
   "We hope they will look at the evidence instead of putting babies at risk," he said. 
   
   Mr Moore echoed the concerns raised by the Public Health Association's president, Professor Heather Yeatman, who said in an interview with The Australian Women's Weekly "there's a very real possibility that a baby may die if this book goes ahead". 
   
   "Especially if [the DIY formula] was the only food a parent was feeding their infant, it's a very real risk. And [I consider that] the baby's growth and development could be impaired." 
   
   Adherents of the paleo diet restrict their food intake to the types of unprocessed foods presumed to have been eaten by early humans, such as meat, fish, vegetables and fruit. 
   
   Milk products, along with all grains and pulses, are banned. 
   
   A spokeswoman for federal Health Minister Sussan Ley confirmed the department "has been closely scrutinising this diet and book". 
   
   "The department is concerned about the inadequate nutritional values of some of the foods, in particular for infants, and is investigating further," a spokeswoman said. 
   
   Co-authored by My Kitchen Rules judge and paleo advocate Evans, actress and baby food blogger Charlotte Carr and naturopath Helen Padarin, the book features a range of other recipes based on the paleo diet that health officials have deemed unsafe or inappropriate for children. Among them are recipes that include runny eggs and added salt, which health experts claim contravene national health guidelines for babies. 
   
   Professor Yeatman said children "may be seriously affected" as a result of parents limiting their diets to the ascribed paleo doctrine. 
   
   "That's the really troubling thing: the infant is totally at the whim of their parents when it comes to feeding." 
   
   The book includes a disclaimer that states: "Although we in good faith believe that the information provided will help you live a healthier life, relying on the information contained in this publication may not give you the results you desire or may cause negative health consequences." 
   
   When contacted by Fairfax Media, Pan Macmillian would not confirm whether a revised publication date had been set or whether bookstores offering pre-ordered copies of the book had been advised to cease doing so. 
   
   On Thursday, Evans' The Paleo Way official website had crashed or had been taken down. 
   
   Evans, who has acquired the moniker "Paleo Pete", has encountered numerous controversies in his religious promotion and defence of the diet. 
   
   Last year, he launched a broadside attack on his Facebook page against the Heart Foundation and the Dietitians Association of Australia (DAA) over the merits of the paleo diet and urged his half a million Facebook followers to sign a petition to "boycott" the Heart Foundation's tick. 
   
   In December, he was photographed wearing a "Fluoride Free" T-shirt, after reportedly attending a meeting with the controversial Perth-based anti-fluoride group. ||||| A Paleo diet baby cookbook co-authored by celebrity chef Pete Evans has been put on hold after public health officials warned its recipes could potentially result in infants dying. 
   
   The Weekly online has learned publishers Pan Macmillan have held back release of Bubba Yum Yum: The Paleo Way – following intervention by a consortium of health organisations that expressed grave concerns over the book's DIY baby milk formula, based on liver and bone broth. 
   
   "In my view, there's a very real possibility that a baby may die if this book goes ahead," Professor Heather Yeatman, president of the Public Health Association of Australia, has told The Weekly online. 
   
   "Especially if [the DIY formula] was the only food a parent was feeding their infant, it's a very real risk. And [I consider that] the baby’s growth and development could be impaired." 
   
   So grave are health officials' fears over the potential health ramifications of the DIY formula that the Federal Government's Department of Health has been alerted to it. 
   
   Experts warn it contains more than ten times the safe maximum daily intake of vitamin A for babies and inadequate levels of other nutrients. 
   
   "The Department of Health has been closely scrutinizing this diet and book," a spokeswoman said. 
   
   The department is "concerned about the inadequate nutritional values of some of the foods, in particular for infants, and is investigating further." 
   
   The cookbook is co-authored by influential Channel 7 My Kitchen Rules judge and Paleo advocate Pete Evans, baby recipe blogger Charlotte Carr and naturopath Helen Padarin. None have medical qualifications. 
   
   The book was due to be published by Pan MacMillan this Friday (March 13). 
   
   But health officials claim that it would be negligent of the publishers to release the book, which they say also flouts national health guidelines by including runny eggs and added salt in recipes for young babies. 
   
   They are concerned that celebrity endorsement may give the DIY baby formula extra credibility in the eyes of new mums. 
   
   Pan MacMillan stands to take a big financial hit if the book is pulped. Pete Evans is currently one of its best-selling authors, with previous titles Family Food and Healthy Every Day reaching number one in the Australian book charts. 
   
   Under the Paleo diet, all grains, dairy and pulses are banned. While adults can choose to follow such a diet, Prof Yeatman says it isn't fair to subject a baby to what she characterises as an unproven set of beliefs. 
   
   "That's the really troubling thing: the infant is totally at the whim of their parents when it comes to feeding," she says. "If the wrong decision is made, they may be seriously affected." 
   
   Paleo advocate Pete Evans has more than 780,000 Likes on his Facebook page, which includes many personal testimonials from fans. He describes his current national speaking tour as "spreading the medicine". 
   
   In his foreword to the book, he implies that the Paleo diet may help prevent autism, birth defects, behavioural disorders, digestive disorders, rashes and asthma. 
   
   According to the World Health Organisation, the only safe alternative to breast milk for young babies is commercial formula. 
   
   Health officials warn the recipe for baby bone broth formula, which also includes oils and a probiotic supplement, could potentiallycause a vitamin A overdose in infants, the symptoms of which include loss of appetite, dry skin, hair loss, bone pain, fissures in the corners of the mouth and failure to thrive. 
   
   A disclaimer in the back of Bubba Yum Yum: The Paleo Way states, "Although we in good faith believe that the information provided will help you live a healthier life, relying on the information contained in this publication may not give you the results you desire or may cause negative health consequences." 
   
   Co-author Charlotte Carr used the DIY baby milk formula recipe on recommendation of a naturopath with her own son in response to his health problems, including sensory processing issues and a compromised gut and immune system. She didn't want to use commercial formula because of worries about ingredients. 
   
   Comment is being sought from Pan Macmillan and the book's authors. 
   
   *To read our full investigation into Pete Evans’s transformation from celebrity pizza chef to Paleo warrior, see the current March issue of The Weekly on stands now. 
   
   Related: 
   
   Health bodies warn Paleo is not a cure 
   
   The questions Pete Evans refused to answer
target: – You're never too young, it seems, for a trendy diet. The release of an Australian paleo diet cookbook has been delayed amid concerns over its recipes for babies, Australia's ABC News reports. Officials are investigating Bubba Yum Yum: The Paleo Way For New Mums, Babies and Toddlers, which includes a recipe for a "homemade formula" for infants younger than six months. To make the bone broth, parents will need chicken bones, chicken feet, and vinegar. Australia's health department says it "has concerns about the inadequate nutritional value of some of the recipes, in particular the infant formula"—which, the Sydney Morning Herald reports, is touted in the book as the "next best thing" after breast milk. "All of the experts that you will speak to would say that feeding your baby anything other than infant formula or breast milk under six months as their primary source of nutrition is extremely dangerous," says a breastfeeding expert. In the Australian Women's Weekly, a public health advocate puts it even more starkly: "In my view, there's a very real possibility that a baby may die if this book goes ahead." The book is the work of chef and bestselling author Pete Evans along with a nutritionist and a blogger, Charlotte Carr, who says the paleo diet fixed her son's health issues. (The founder of PayPal, who embraces a paleo-style diet, is aiming to live to be 120.)