Oat milk is milk

[GCBear]

Milk has lost all meaning
www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2023/03/plant-based-soy-oat-milk-fda-definition/673306/

"Differentiating plant-based milk and milk requires defining what milk actually is, but doing so is at odds with the acknowledgment that plant-based milk is milk."

(I think I might be spending too much time lurking on this board. 😂)

Oat milk is quite literally thin gruel

I don't think any consumers are confusing oat milk, soy milk, almond milk with actual dairy milk. Like no one mistakes a package of veggie burgers for beef. The packaging is clear and consumers are not being misled.

Oat milk is not milk. It is a drink made from oats. People buy it because it is not dairy milk.

I fail to see the drawback in calling it oat milk, even for the dairy industry.

Completely agree.

I was told by a paediatrician that Wy Soy was not suitable for under 6 months old.

What exactly is in the growing up milk which isn’t in Oatley Barista? I ask this was the only suitable milk for my toddlers as oat growing up milk is only recently been made available.

I suspect the OP's wry point was that here is another concept being mangled by making the definition so wide and woolly that it ends up being unhelpful. A plant 'milk substitute' is not milk. A male is not an adult human female. A person with a penis cannot by definition be a lesbian if a lesbian is a female homosexual. It's ruddy endless and beyond tedious.

This thread reminds me of my friend who gets cross whenever anyone says "peppermint tea" 😭

I don’t have a problem with oat milk. I put it in my coffee every day in an attempt to consume less dairy. I even call it "oat milk". As the person quoted in the Atlantic piece says, milk alternatives "are accepted as milk because they’re used in the same way: splashed in coffee, poured into cereal, or as an ingredient in baked goods" (a couple of previous posters made the same point). Beyond that, I have no strong opinion on whether plant-based milk alternatives should or shouldn't be referred to as "milk".

I just thought the questions raised in the article about changing meanings of words, the extent to which clear definitions are needed, and the possible implications and clashes arising from such evolving meanings and fuzzy definitions threw up some interesting parallels to other debates, especially the sentence I quoted. Simultaneously, I was amused at myself for drawing those parallels.

Never mind. My mind clearly works in strange ways. (I already knew that.) 🙂

What a load of misinformed tosh.

Oat milk is very low in protein. Oatly Barista is 1.1g per 100ml. Alpro Growing Up milk is higher in protein (2.5g per 100ml).

Oat milk is oat milk. Oat milk is not milk.
Sea horses are sea horses. Sea horses are not horses.
Trans women are trans women. Trans women are not women.

The only vegan products that annoy me are those that are branded as not meat but you have to scour the ingredients list to find out exactly what it is.

Wy soy is not recommended from six months old, simply because it hadn't been in use as long as dairy formula so, although all studies, including the oestrogen study which is often mistakenly quoted, have shown it is safe. The other reason is because soy is an allergen and there's some evidence to say early exposure can cause allergies to develop. I suspect six months in particular is cited due to that being the ideal 'breastfed' window too, but that's my own personal opinion. That it is safe can be seen in numerous studies and allergy concerns follows current thinking around allergies, though this constantly changes.

Growing up milk is fortified appropriately for toddlers. For example, it has iodine added which other plant milks don't. Iodine doesn't occur naturally in cow's milk btw, but farmers clean equipment with it and so trace amounts get into cow's milk and it is 'fortified' in that way.
Some plant milks have low amounts of calcium, b12 etc, and growing up milk is made to ensure it has sufficient vitamins and minerals for a toddler.

notacooldad · Today 15:42

Best not have any coconut milk then!! Coconuts don't lactate as far as I'm aware.

It is something that shouldn't be said, it is not right. We need to have a mature, respectful debate about nut's rights and we need to bear in mind that the nut community are amongst the most marginalised and abused communities.

StaunchMomma · Today 16:01

Oat milk is used as a direct replacement for cow milk so why not use the same word?!

It may be, more or less, if you put it in tea / coffee, as an adult. If you're feeding it to babies and young children, instead of milk, you are endangering their health.

Nut and grain milk alternatives are lacking in many of the essential proteins, minerals and vitamins, which are absolutely essential to the health of young children. There have been cases, in which children have suffered permanent health problems, because their parents were misguided and gave them such, instead of milk.

I'm currently drinking cocoa, made with hazelnut squeezings. My daughter wanted the almond one and I got it wrong....

@GrannyAchingsShepherdsHut OSR honey does set very solid and it's a problem for beekeepers to extract but I don't think the bees have any problems dealing with it.

There are two issues with vegetable "milks" which I think justify them being referred to differently - they're highly processed and not nutritionally equivalent to dairy milk. (A lot of meat substitutes have the same issue). As I am trying to avoid emulsifiers and preservatives they're unfortunately not a great option for me.

OP, I think the difference between oat milk and TWAW is that oat milk does not claim to be - or want to identify as - milk. It's big selling point is that it's not milk. It's an alternative.

The TWAW crew claim certain men ARE women.

The eqivalent to oat milk is oat milk would be TW are TW.

Me, I like milk.

This with bells on!

All of this 🙌🙌🙌

This.

I thought acorns were poisonous to humans ?

I do understand this argument, but I think many feminists feel that access to cows milk formula is also a feminist issue. Women are responsible for feeding their babies, and having a safe alternative to breastfeeding is hugely important for mothers who either can’t or don’t wish to, breastfeeding until natural weaning age. Just is most of us, excluding people like me who chose to breastfeed into toddlerhood

If any of you advocate not to drink milk, then I suppose you don’t consume cheese, yoghurt, butter and other dairy products either.

I agree. Formula is important. I'm not opposed to formula for babies, although it can be made diary free largely what is available is dairy so fairplay if that's what is needed.

That's not what I'm discussing here. It's grown adults going 'huh huh huh I like cow's milk in my coffee.' Adult humans don't need calf milk. They certainly shouldn't joke about their exploitation of female animals.

I don't, no.
I don't begrudge others doing it, but I do think it's crass to joke about exploiting the mother's of another species. That tends to be when my 'militant vegan' mode is activated.

What’s the alternative to seed oils then? I’m terrified now