Oat Dairy Drink – Not a Vegan Product
by Reed Mangels, PhD, RD
Maybe I was tired or thinking of other things as I walked the aisles of a supermarket in New York. On the aisle with packages of shelf-stable soymilk and almond milk, I saw shrink-wrapped three-packs of small aseptic boxes, each with a plastic straw. The boxes were labeled “Oat Dairy Drink” and came in flavors including original, cinnamon, and strawberry. I thought they were a brand of oat milk that I hadn’t seen before. They weren’t. On closer inspection, I realized that the ingredients included whole grain oats, cow’s milk, and cane sugar. These were not vegan products. Lesson learned – just because a product sounds to me like it’s oat milk, it may not be.
To read more about non-dairy oat milks see:
We often depend on product and ingredient information from company statements. It is impossible to be 100% sure about a statement, info can change, people have different views, and mistakes can be made. Please use your best judgment about whether a product is suitable for you. To be sure, do further research or confirmation on your own.
