“The rules also call for voluntary extra nutrition labels that note when the drinks have lower levels of nutrients than dairy milk, such as calcium, magnesium or vitamin D. They would continue to allow labels that note when plant-based drinks have higher levels. Fortified soy milk is the only plant-based food included in the dairy category of U.S. dietary guidelines because of its nutrient levels.”
I don’t drink non-dairy “milk” because it is much lower in protein than real dairy milk. Also usually lower calcium, magnesium and Vitamin D.
I don’t think the average consumer is sophisticated enough to compare these products with milk unless the label shows the comparison. I don’t think the information on the label should be voluntary. In my opinion, it should be required.
Many people have bought into a meme that says that adults should not drink milk. They have no objective proof that milk is harmful to adults. There’s plenty of proof that milk is beneficial, from the Bible to the fact that many cultures that didn’t evolve adult lactase did develop fermentation processes (e.g. yogurt) that reduce lactose but keep the protein.
Wendy
Actually, many adults stop being able to consume dairy milk (and other milk products) due to lactose intolerance. They could drink it as children/teens, but at some point their body stops producing the enzyme (?) needed to digest dairy milk and other products. It is well known and is the reason we see a large number of products that are “lactose free”.
That’s me. Somewhere in my 40s I began to have gas and other stomach upsets if I drank milk or even ate foods prepared with milk. Cheese, yogurt, kefir don’t bother me. When I’m going to have a dairy heavy meal or enjoy some ice cream I dose up with Lactaid or one of the store brand versions of it. We also now buy lactose free milk.
Not just humans, most mammals stop producing the lactase enzyme and lose to ability to digest milk as they reach adulthood. This is an evolutionary strategy designed to reserve the milk supply for the young. Some human populations, primarily those from northern and central Europe but other places as well, began to retain the ability to digest milk about the same time they were domesticating sheep, cows, and goats. Dairy products like cheese and yoghurt are usually okay for lactose intolerant people because they are pre-digested.
As an adult, unless you like milk there is no need to drink it. You can get all your nutritional needs met with other foods. I make a cappuccino every morning and it just doesn’t work without full fat milk. But other than that I don’t drink milk at all.
Maybe that explains it? I keep thinking about getting a DNA test, to see if it matches the family narrative: father’s family from Normandy coast of France, which was settled by Vikings, and my maternal grandfather had very Saxon feet. Either way, I, at 69 years, can scarf down an entire carton (now made Shiny at 1.5 quarts) of real ice cream, not that Breyer’s plonk, with no ill effects.
Steve