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You are here: Home / Patriotic Patter / Historical Entities / History of Pablum

History of Pablum

March 22, 2012 By Submit to Canadiana Connection

Goo goo ga ga … whoops, sorry, we were just talking baby talk. Actually, that’s not so far off the subject of this article! Though acquired by H. J. Heinz Company in 2005, from the time of its invention to that point, Pablum was largely an all-Canadian venture. The only exception to the list of prominent Canadians that co-developed the formula was Mr. Harry H. Engel, of Mead Johnson & Company. Mr. Engel held one of three patents for the Pablum formula.

In 1930, a group of three Canadian pediatricians — Dr. Frederick Tisdall, Dr. Theodore Drake, and Dr. Alan Brown — in concert with Ruth Herbert, a nutrition laboratory technician, and the aforementioned Harry Engel, co-developed Pablum. Everyone except for Mr. Engel was then working for Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children. The name for the formula, taken from the Latin “pabulum”, basically means “foodstuff”. Well, this particular foodstuff was a major breakthrough in nutritional science. By ensuring children would have enough vitamin D in their diets, Pablum helped prevent rickets, a terrible childhood disease.

The interesting thing about Pablum is that it wasn’t the first food designed and sold for babies. But it was the first baby food to arrive on the shelves precooked and totally dried. Pablum is easy to prepare, and that alone helped make it successful, early on in an era when infant malnutrition was rampant in industrialized countries.

The ingredients in Pablum Mixed Cereal include ground and precooked wheat, oatmeal, yellow corn meal, bone meal, dried brewer’s yeast, and powdered alfalfa leaf, fortified with reduced iron. In short, the Cereal is packed with minerals and vitamins! It’s palatable, easily digested, and causes very few side effects. It doesn’t contain eggs, lactose, or nuts of any kind. It’s unlikely to cause allergic reactions. In most every way, this remarkable product is suited for almost everyone.

As a precursor to the release of Pablum (in 1931), its co-developers had developed a biscuit called Sunwheat. They talked about that in an article appeared in THE CANADIAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION JOURNAL, co-authored by the three doctors whose names appear above, along with Pearl Summerfeldt, MB. Among the many studies and conclusions mentioned, at the end it said this: “The biscuit should be regarded as belonging to the essential or protective class of foods, and may be used to replace the ordinary biscuit, rusk, zwiebach, toast, or bread which are nonprotective foods.”

The doctors that developed this incredibly beneficial baby food all came from interesting backgrounds, and all worked to further our understanding of nutrition. Dr. Tisdall was the lead physician on the Hospital for Sick Children’s nutrition project, joining the world-renowned hospital in 1921. In addition to co-developing Pablum, he wrote two textbooks on Pediatrics, numerous articles, and was a member of several health-care boards. Dr. Theordore Drake, born in Webbwood, Ontario in 1891, graduated from the University of Toronto, serving right afterward as a Medical Officer with the Canadian military during World War I. While in that role, he developed nutritious diets for military personnel, and it should be noted, for POW’s alike. His work was duly recognized when he was bestowed membership in the Order of the British Empire. Dr. Brown, born in Clinton, Ontario in 1887, graduated from the University of Toronto Medical School in 1909. He completed internships at hospitals around the world, finally accepting employment at ‘Sick Kids’ hospital. He became a pioneer in pediatrics, and was known for reducing infant mortality rates by nearly one half… in one year’s time.

Pablum is still sold today and in several flavours! New mothers and new parents continue to post questions on the internet about it, and about how much or little they should feed their babies. One only has to look as far as the Yahoo! Network for the kinds of questions being asked, or at websites like Heinz Baby, the Circle of Moms, eHealth Forum, and others for more information about Pablum, or about healthy baby nutrition.

Filed Under: Historical Entities, Patriotic Patter Tagged With: Canadian cereal, Dr. Alan Brown, Dr. Frederick Tisdall, Dr. Theodore Drake, Heinz, history of pablum, hospital for sick children, Mead Johnson, pablum

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. James Laughead says

    September 20, 2012 at 8:58 pm

    Why did Heinz Destroy Pablum? Why didn’t they allow Pablum to be sold in the United States, did Mead Johnson get paid off to keep it out of the United States? Pablum in the U.S. was the No.1 baby cereal in America in the 30’s and 40’s, then it disappeared, did Heinz get paid off to keep it out of the U.S. Pablum was very high in Protein.

  2. John says

    November 9, 2017 at 11:42 am

    I remember this cereal as one of the best tasting ever! I think whoever made it stopped in the 60’s or so. I remember my older sister saying “they stopped making it”, I don’t know why but sure wish I could find somewhere to get it again, wouldn’t hesitate buying it. If anyone knows of some place to purchase it, please let me know!

  3. Manny Crisol says

    March 30, 2018 at 7:57 am

    I am totally baffled that I can not find where to buy PABLUM! This cereal I ate from infancy through my teenage years. It prevented many of the childhood maladies that would have otherwise struck me as a child. I am now 76 years old. I am totally annoyed at marketing people who took out Pablum from the market. Irresponsible individuals!!!!!

  4. Diana White says

    July 31, 2019 at 1:04 pm

    My babysitter made it for her baby when I was four years old. I tasted it and loved it. Wish the original was still available. I’d eat it today.

  5. Andre Fourbier says

    September 14, 2019 at 1:59 pm

    Wow
    I am 71 year old and still enjoy eating pablum..

    I eat mine with cold milk and a spoonful of brown sugar

  6. Nancy Coughlin says

    January 8, 2020 at 8:30 pm

    It contains WHEAT and BONE meal. No thank you. And that’s a big no thank you. If you happen to be a baby who cannot tolerate gluten, you’re in huge trouble.

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