Multiple scientific studies, articles, and trials have linked cow’s milk-based baby formulas, such as Similac and Enfamil, with NEC:u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003e• A u003ca href=u0022https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1979363/u0022u003eu003cstrongu003e1990 clinical trialu003c/strongu003eu003c/au003e found that u003cstrongu003esix to 10 times moreu003c/strongu003e exclusively formula-fed infants developed NEC than infants who were fed only breast milk and that u003cstrongu003ethree times moreu003c/strongu003e infants who received breast plus formula milk developed NEC than infants who were fed only breast milk. The trial also found that u003cstrongu003e20 times moreu003c/strongu003e infants born at over 30 weeks’ gestation who were exclusively fed formula developed NEC compared to infants with diets that included breast milk.u003cbr/u003e• A u003ca href=u0022https://www.nature.com/articles/7211758u0022u003eu003cstrongu003e2007 studyu003c/strongu003eu003c/au003e found that u003cstrongu003e10.6 percentu003c/strongu003e of babies given less than half-human milk developed NEC, compared to only u003cstrongu003e3.2 percentu003c/strongu003e of infants given more than half-human milk developing NEC.u003cbr/u003e• A u003ca href=u0022https://www.nature.com/articles/pr2012125u0022u003eu003cstrongu003e2012 studyu003c/strongu003eu003c/au003e found that lipase digestion u003cemu003ein vitrou003c/emu003e of formula led to high unbound free fatty acid levels which caused intestinal cells to die, but that it didn’t occur with lipase digestion u003cemu003ein vitrou003c/emu003e of human breast milk.u003cbr/u003e• A u003ca href=u0022https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4025624/u0022u003eu003cstrongu003e2014 studyu003c/strongu003eu003c/au003e found that u003cstrongu003e3.4 percentu003c/strongu003e of infants who received cow’s milk-based formula developed NEC compared to only u003cstrongu003e1 percentu003c/strongu003e of infants who received human breast milk developing NEC.u003cbr/u003e• A u003ca href=u0022https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4113601/#u0022u003eu003cstrongu003e2014 author manuscriptu003c/strongu003eu003c/au003e stated, “it is well established that the risk of [NEC] is increased by the administration of infant formula.”u003cbr/u003e• A u003ca href=u0022https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4782036/u0022u003eu003cstrongu003e2016 studyu003c/strongu003eu003c/au003e found that u003cstrongu003e16.7 percentu003c/strongu003e of infants who received preterm formula and/or human breast milk fortified with bovine fortifier developed NEC. The study found that only 6.9 percent of infants given human breast milk developed the condition.u003cbr/u003e• A u003ca href=u0022https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5227976/u0022u003eu003cstrongu003e2017 articleu003c/strongu003eu003c/au003e stated, “bovine milk-based infant formulas lead to a higher incidence of NEC in preterm infants than does human milk.”u003cbr/u003e• A u003ca href=u0022https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fped.2018.00385/fullu0022u003eu003cstrongu003e2018 articleu003c/strongu003eu003c/au003e noted that preterm infants who receive human milk rather than formula are u003cstrongu003esix to 10 timesu003c/strongu003e less likely to develop NEC. The article suggests that the oligosaccharides in human breast milk might reduce the risk of NEC development.