HiPP water temperature

HiPP's German and Dutch labels say 40 to 50 °C; the WHO and the CDC say at least 70 °C. The two do not agree, and your pediatrician is the one to settle it.

Yes, on every HiPP label. What differs is how long you let it cool afterwards: the German and Dutch packs want it down to 40 to 50 °C, the British packs want the powder in within 30 minutes of the boil.

To protect the lactic culture. HiPP adds Limosilactobacillus fermentum to most of its powders, it is a live culture, and the Dutch tin says in as many words not to pour boiling water on the powder so as not to damage it. That is HiPP's reason about its own product rather than a food safety finding, and we grade it that way.

Because powdered infant formula is not sterile. It can carry Cronobacter sakazakii and Salmonella, which are rare but can be severe in a newborn, and water at 70 °C or above kills them in the bottle rather than leaving a parent to hope the tin was clean. The WHO published the guidance in 2007, the CDC repeats it, and the NHS builds its whole method around it.

Ask your pediatrician, and say which HiPP pack you have. The WHO and CDC advice is aimed hardest at babies under two months, born early or with a weakened immune system; HiPP's cooler water is aimed at keeping a culture alive that a healthy older baby may not need.

HiPP says water that is too hot harms the culture, which is the whole reason it asks for the cooler water. What nobody publishes, HiPP included, is how much of the culture survives at any particular temperature, so we cannot tell you what 70 °C costs you. We can only tell you that HiPP says it costs something.

HiPP does not explain it. Its British labels follow the national advice that the NHS gives, its German and Dutch labels follow the culture, and the formulas behind those labels are close to identical. The difference is in the instructions rather than the milk.

Boil it and leave it no more than 30 minutes, which is the NHS method: a litre of freshly boiled water in a covered kettle is still above 70 °C for about that long. Less water cools faster.

No. The heat has to be there when the powder meets the water, so reheating a cold kettle does nothing. Boil fresh water.

The NHS says bottled water is not usually recommended for making up feeds, because it is not sterile and may carry too much sodium or sulphate. Boiled tap water is the default unless your water supply is unsafe, and then the CDC's advice is ready-to-feed formula.

No. A sealed bottle is sterile and nothing is added, so there is no water to boil; the German PRE bottle may even be given at room temperature, or warmed to about 37 °C.