A Shopping List of Items for a Child Who Is Allergic to Milk Products Ie Cerial,

The simplest thing to do is go to the gluten-free section of your local grocery store. Many of those products are also milk-free. We give our boys goat milk and cook fresh so we don't have to deal with labels.

Hi L.,

There are so many products out there that are diary free, but depends on your local stores. Some stores have a health Organic side and then you might have to shop also at a natural health store and they have a lot more items to choose from than some of the grocer stores. I know we have tried a lot of brands. Here are some dairy free items.

Milk subs.
Rice milk- regular, vanilla, chocolate
Almond Milk- regular, vanilla-great with any whole grain cereal love it with granola
silk milk-soy milk, regular, vanilla, chocolate-its great in soups

Veggie Cheese sandwich slices-comes in a variety, very good-it is expensive but good

Ice-cream
there is some that is made with coconut milk, rice milk, soy milk-my fav. is the ones with coconut milk really good.

If you have a natural food store in your area they are very helpful and would show you products that are cow free.

I hope this helped and I recommend going to a natural food store they deal with these products all the time.

Good Luck!

There is a goatmilk based yogert that is excellent but expensive. You might want to check with the grocery store and see if they happen to have a list, I know Central Market has a row by row list of the stores products that are gluten free, but I never checked on milk b/c it is easier to find in the labels.

Unfortunately, there is not another safe way to shop for food allergies, except to read the label. Anything that contains chocolate will more than likely contain milk products as well. At least the labels now have allergy info listed in bold type print. When my son was little, it took me at least 2 hours to do the weekly grocery shopping, as those allergy labels were not there 16 years ago. Do you have a complete list of all the milk products and milk substances to look for? Having that list memorized helps too. Also, shopping at Whole Foods is a little bit easier and now HEB and Kroger have a wide selection in their Natural Foods area. They didn't 16 years ago.
Hope this helps.
K.

Hi L.,

My daughter is on a non-dairy diet. She drinks vanilla soy milk. Things she eats now are Cheerios multi grain, oatmeal w/ soy milk, fruit cups, dried fruit that Welch's makes. Peanut butter & jelly sandwiches, made with HEB Bake Shop 100% Whole Wheat Multigrain bread. Banana chips, tuna fish, hot dogs. Fresh fruit and then I make sure to not use milk or dairy products in the things I make at home. There is shredded soy cheese that is pretty good.

Hope that gives you some ideas,
H.

Unfortunately, if you have someone in your family that has a milk allergy you will have to get used to reading labels. It is a pain at first, but you get used to it very quickly -- after a few trips, you learn what has dairy and what doesn't. Luckily, a lot of the healthiest options (e.g. fresh fruits and vegetables) don't require any label reading.
Also, depending on the severity of the allergy, you may have to avoid products that contain the ingredients casein and/or whey. Both of these can trigger allergic reactions and they are found in some soy substiutes as well as some things that are marked "dairy free."
Yes, it's annoying to have to read labels, but it is MUCH better than dealing with an allergic reaction.

Unfortunately, reading the labels is the only way. A product that you have checked and bought previously will sometimes change the ingredients and the only thing that will change is the ingredients list. But with the new bold list of allergic triggers, it is easier to do a quick check. For example, if wheat is listed in bold, but not milk, it is a safe product. Depending on the sensitivity level, watch for hidden milk in breads, cookies, and crackers. (0reos are safe, but vanilla wafers are not.)

Label reading is really something we should all do, because of all the chemicals in products (high fructose corn syrup, MSG, aspartame). Whole foods has product lists up front, on dairy free items. Look for foods that have a V for vegan on them. These items have no dairy. Almond Breeze, Soy dream, and rice dream are great alternatives for cereal. Amy's makes a pizza with soy cheese. Purely decadent ice cream. And Imagine makes some nice dairy free soups. www.notmilk.com I hope this helps.

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Reading the labels is the best because sometimes companies change their recipes. My daughter is also on a Milk free (casein, whey, milk, milk fat etc..) and on a gluten free diet. I buy some of her foods at health food stores, but Kroger also has two cereals that I buy for her that are milk free and gluten free, they are the Envirokids brand - Peanut Butter Panda Puffs and the Gorilla Munch cereals. But their cereal bars however are processed in a facility that also processes milk and wheat so I would stay away from them. I buy her the "So delicious brand ice cream in vanilla flavor which they also sell at kroger and at wal mart. For a milk substitute I buy her the Silk brand of soymilk in any flavor she wants. Their products are vegan and do not contain any milk (casein). I mostly buy her the one with the omega 3 (light blue carton with a purple label). If you also go to www.Allergygrocer.com you can find lots of things there. I bought her GFCF ice cream cones there too. There is a great health food store in Kingwood, TX where they have lots of great substitutes for cheese an cream cheese. www.natkit.com. I buy her the tofutti brand "better than cream cheese and the "sour Supreme sour cream substitute. I hope this helps you out. God bless you and your family. I know it's hard to find resources at first, but it will get easier.

Hello,

I'm a nutritionist. Perhaps your soon to be 4 yr old is allergic to cows milk. I would like to recommend that you try soy based products such as soy milk by Silk in the red carton. You might also try almond milk and/or Rice Dream. Try using Yo Soy brand yogurt. My daugther who is 19 months old drank Similac Isomil Advance when she was on breastmilk and formula. Once off the formula she drank the Silk as the cows milk gave her colic. She enjoys the aforementioned products. Provide the child with lots of fresh fruits and veggies. Offer veggie dips and toasted whole grain bread- a good bread to try is the H.E.B's brand of 12 grain bread. My daughter likes it, too. Try avocado on sandwiches instead of mayonnaise. Instead of sweetening foods such as real old fashion oatmeal with sugar, use agave pure nectar sweetener. It's a low glycemic index food that won't send their blood sugar levels through the roof leaving them to crash later. I give this to both my daughter and it's safe to give my birds when I share oatmeal, oat bran and cream of wheat with them. These are awesome breakfast foods!

As much as you hate it, reading nutrition labels should be a way of life as there are so many products that have hidden ingredients such as hidden fats like partially hydrogenated veggie oil and high fructose corn syrup. No hydrogenated fat is good for you and high fructose corn syrup is an unnecessary sweetener. You'd be surprised that Ocean Spray has it in their products along with a host of other products. Take a look at Kashi brand. Try Whole Foods Market. Their staff is quite helpful.

Overall, ensure that your grandchildren are not consuming lots of processed (hot dogs), pre-packaged, sugary foods and fried, fast foods. Make sure they all drink plenty of plain water...not sugar water, exercise and get plenty of rest. These steps make for happy, healthy children who won't end up pre-disposed to an avoidable chronic disease. Eating more whole foods (fresh fruits and veggies) and less processed foods are the way to go.

Best Wishes,
C. D (resident of Magnolia, TX)