- Pablum was invented in 1930 by three doctors and a nutritionist, all from The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, along with co-inventor Harry H. Engel, of Mead Johnson & Company.
- The name Pablum is based on the Latin word pabulum, meaning “food” or “fodder”.
- Another product developed by the co-inventors of Pablum, a year earlier, was called Sunwheat. Sunwheat was a biscuit, and wasn’t exactly what they wanted for babies.
- Perhaps the single most important ingredient of Pablum was vitamin D, and that addressed a deficiency in most baby’s diets; it was a deficiency that caused Rickets, among other things.
- In 2005, the H. J. Heinz Company acquired the rights to Pablum.
- Pablum was the first baby food to arrive on store shelves precooked and totally dried.
- One of the co-inventors of Pablum, Dr. Frederick Tisdall, wrote two textbooks on Pediatrics in his time, and was a member of several prominent health-care boards.
- The other two Hospital for Sick Children physicians also gained much notice. Dr. Theordore Drake was bestowed the Order of the British Empire. Dr. Alan Brown reduced infant mortality rates by one-half, and did so in less than a year.
- The Hospital for Sick Children received royalties for 25 years from the sale of Pablum.