"nondairy" news and stories

An article from Newsweek discusses the possibilty that soy and rice milks can actually harm kids, especially toddlers. There have been reports of vitamin and protein deficiencies - rickets and kwashiorkor , respectively - in very young children who were given rice or soy milk as a substitute for regular milk or baby formula. One would think that calcium deficiencies could be a problem, as well, but it was not reported in the article.

The problem is not the products themselves, but that parents don't necessarily know what they are giving to their children. Rice and soy milks can be very healthy, low in fat and cholesterol, and are great choices in adult diets. Some people believe that this directly translates for their children, failing to take into consideration that adults and children often have different nutritional needs. In reality, these products are not milk substitutes, but milk alternatives. Adults have much more varied diets than children and can get any nutrients that they may be missing from other sources, so when parents see these alternative "milks" as direct substitutes for dairy milks, their kids can miss out, even if adults don't. If proper nutrition is provided to the kids, any problems that could be associated with a lack of dairy can be avoided entirely and non-dairy milks can be a great addition to kids' diets.

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There are 120 McDonalds restaurants in Israel and all of them purchase only kosher ingredients. Only 19 of the restaurants are entirely kosher, or kashrut. This means that they do not sell any dairy products whatsoever, making them no-risk restaurant destinations for those diners who keep kosher. There was concern from some rabbis that diners might be confused at the difference between the two types of McDonalds, thinking that none of them serve dairy products. To alleviate fears, McDonalds has offered a redesigned logo for the 19 restaurants. The famous red and gold will be replaced by blue and white, and the McDonalds logo will be printed only in Hebrew, with the word "kosher" appearing in English on the menu.

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All you fans of nondairy whipped topping should take a moment. Robert E. Rich, the New York dairy farmer who invented nondairy whipped topping from soybeans in 1945 recently died at the age of 92. According to an obituary in the LA Times, Rich began experimenting with nondairy alternatives because dairy products were being re-routed to U.S. soldiers during World War II. Rich's Whip Topping, as the product was called, was a success, in part, because it could be frozen, unlike dairy-based whipped toppings. He was the first to be inducted into the National Frozen Food Industry Hall of Fame.