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Casein-free Replacement For Cheese

kempy99

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kempy99 Apprentice
kempy99
Posted

My 3-year-old was recently diagnosed with a dairy (casein) intolerance, on top of the gluten intolerance. Up until last week, we had been indulging in a great homemade gluten-free pizza recipe. Pizza crust from Chebe, Prego traditional spaghetti sauce for the sauce, hormel turkey peperoni and mozerella cheese. Well, nowcheese (and all dairy) are off limits. And what is pizza without cheese!!!!! So I went out in search of some alternative cheese product. I found some called RICE. The front of the package says "shredded dairy free mozerella-flavored cheese substitute". It is made from a rice beverage. The package says, melts like real cheese. So I thought "Ok, we'll try it". To our surprise it was really good, but then I read the back of the package. Low and behold, 'casein (a milk derivitive)' was in the ingredients list! Ugh, I am so nieve! Thinking that the front of the package says "dairy-free" I thought I was in the clear. I guess not! And I'm finding that alot of prodcuts that are labeled "dairy-free" are infact not, because they contain casein. How can they make those claims!?!??! I'll stop with the ranting here and get back on track.

Does anyone know of a caseing-free cheese substitute that would work for using on top of pizza? My 3-year-old would just be in cloud 9 if we can find a way to have pizza again! :)

Thank you!

Rebecca

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momandgirls Enthusiast
momandgirls
Posted

Hi - My daughter's in the same boat. However, I've found that, in very small amounts, she can handle Veggie Shreds mozzarella. It does contain casein (I just looked at the label) but, like I said, she can handle very small amounts when she definitely can't tolerate any of the "real" dairy products.

kempy99 Apprentice
kempy99
Posted
  • Author

Thanks momandgirls for the reply. See we are having a real hard time with this "dairy intolerance" because he was showing no outward signs of the intolerance (as he did with gluten). He seemed to be fine with it, but we had him screened by Enterolab for cows milk sesitivity and his results came back with a definate intolerance to dairy. In fact it indicated that he has an autoimmune reaction to it (much like that of gluten). BUMMER!!!! With the test results came an interpretation/explainationand a FAQ section. Here's what it said about dairy:

Is milk protein sensitivity as bad as gluten sensitivity and do I need to be strict with a dairy-free diet?

Research showing a high association of antibodies to cow's milk proteins in people who react similarly to gluten has been around for over 40 years. More recent research has now confirmed that these reactions to cow's milk proteins (mainly casein but also lactalbumin, lactoglobulin, and bovine serum albumin) are indeed epidemiologically related to autoimmune diseases such as diabetes, psoriasis, eczema, and asthma, among others. While formal studies of dairy-free diets, either alone or in combination with gluten-free, have not yet been conducted on a wide scale, the idea of a gluten-free/casein-free diet is not new, having been employed for decades by many health practitioners. From my objective assessment of this field, and my personal experience with my own dietary elimination for health, I recommend complete avoidance of all dairy products in anyone found to be immunologically sensitive to cow's milk protein by our tests, and anyone with an established autoimmune or chronic immune disease. I predict future research will support this recommendation. Do not bury your head in the sand waiting for such studies. Do your own study and go gluten-free/dairy-free.

So I'm really trying to maintain a "zero allowance" with him.

Thanks for your feedback.

momandgirls Enthusiast
momandgirls
Posted

I understand your concern - my daughter gets very sick with dairy. She can't tolerate any "real" dairy products - even those that say they are lactose free. She avoids all dairy with the exception of the cheese that I mentioned, which she has a minimal amount of about twice a month (pizza and tacos). Unfortunately, there is no completely dairy free cheese on the market that I know of (and I've done lots of looking around!). I'll be curious, though, if anyone else here has any other ideas. Getting rid of dairy, in many ways, has been much harder than getting rid of gluten. It's hiding in so many places - I even found it in a rotisserie turkey yesterday (though the turkey was gluten free)! Good luck!

kempy99 Apprentice
kempy99
Posted
  • Author
Getting rid of dairy, in many ways, has been much harder than getting rid of gluten.

I agree completely!

Kasey'sMom Enthusiast
Kasey'sMom
Posted

My dd is allergic to dairy as well. I haven't found any safe cheese either. She's been dairy free since June of 05' and she's adjusted well. Now we even eat cheese free pizza. She's pretty good about eating veggies so I just top it with lots of them. Her favorite part of pizza is the bread. At first I took pealed zucchini and shredded it to top the pizza with but now she dosen't notice.

I know it's hard to eliminate dairy especiallly when you're giving up gluten. After you make the inital changes it won't be quite so difficult for your child. My dd is 3 1/2 and was use to eating yogurt and drinking cows milk almost every day.

Now she does well with rice milk. We also us coconut milk and Vance's DariFree. Recently I've been making ranch dressing with organic coconut milk:) We use olive oil and coconut oils as replacements for butter. My dd is also allergic to soy, eggs, nuts etc. so to it takes some creativity to come up with replacements. It does get overwhelming sometimes....this week I've not wanted to cook much, which for us isn't and option. I'm hoping I can freeze things ahead of time to make it easier to provide healthy, quick foods.

Good luck and feel free to PM my anytime. :)

Mango04 Enthusiast
Mango04
Posted

I've been dairy-free for many many years and I love Chebe pizza with no cheese. I actually wouldn't know what to do with cheese if I could eat it.

If soy can be tolerated you might try Soymage cheese. It says "Vegan" in big letters on the front. It is completely casein-free.

Chreese is another option. www.chreese.com. You just need to add a lot of liquid (such as Rice Milk) and Earth Balance to the Mac and Chreese to make it taste right. Kids might like it (although I should warn you many people don't :) )

As a person who's had a casein intolerance my whole life (and suffered quite a bit as a kid), I can't help but highly recommend that you aviod giving a casein intolerant child even small amounts of casein at all costs - even a couple times a month. It's not worth the potential damage it can do. Sorry I don't mean to preach, but please please please don't do it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Cheese-free pizza and tacos are good! I've been eating them that way for over ten years!

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taweavmo3 Enthusiast
taweavmo3
Posted

I've been wondering the exact same thing.....I just made my daughter casein free again to see if it would help with her recent temper explosions. We have done fine eliminating casein so far, but I would love to still be able to give her pizza. The kids love Kinn. pizza night, and I have to admit, so do I. It's the one night I get off from really having to cook.

I was thinking of putting hummus on the pizza with some pepperoni. Luckily Emmie loves hummus, and it seems to be good on just about everything else.

Just to give you some motivation, we are only on day 3 of going strictly CF...and there have been ZERO tantrums yesterday or today. The kids all played great together, I was watching in shock, just waiting for the meltdown. But it never came, Em has been much happier since cutting out casein. Even my ultra skeptical husband said he noticed a change in her demeanor. And I was at least 100X more relaxed yesterday w/out enduring a full day of non stop screaming and fighting! It could be just a fluke, lord I hope not... but so far so good.

So, I'm a believe that a casein intolerance can be as bad as gluten, I'm just kicking myself for not sticking to this earlier. This was just a hunch I had as to why she didn't seem 100% yet, and so far it seems to be working.........woohoo!

TCA Contributor
TCA
Posted

Both my kids were casien intolerant as infants, so I had to stick to a strict casien free diet while nursing. I found that making calzones instead of pizza was easier, that way everyone got what they wanted. I did mine with olive oil, veggies, turkey pepperoni, ham, Italian seasoning.....etc. EVeryone else could have cheese and it wasn't a problem. It was delish! I never found a good alternative, even after 2 years. EVERYTHING had casien. I did use hummus in place of sourcream in a lot of recipes and that worked well. I just had to learn to do without the cheese. I did find some soy ice cream that was good and of course sorbet. Cheese was always a problem, though.

Mango04 Enthusiast
Mango04
Posted

That's great! I really believe that if kids grow up without ever eating cheese, they won't want to eat cheese and they'll learn early on that it's just not a necessary food. I thought for a short period of time that I could tolerate raw goats cheese (oops I was wrong), but even during that time I had no idea what to do with the cheese. I cook quite a bit, but I just couldn't think of anything to put the cheese in. We don't need cheese!!!!! Cheese-free is a great way to be :D

I've been wondering the exact same thing.....I just made my daughter casein free again to see if it would help with her recent temper explosions. We have done fine eliminating casein so far, but I would love to still be able to give her pizza. The kids love Kinn. pizza night, and I have to admit, so do I. It's the one night I get off from really having to cook.

I was thinking of putting hummus on the pizza with some pepperoni. Luckily Emmie loves hummus, and it seems to be good on just about everything else.

Just to give you some motivation, we are only on day 3 of going strictly CF...and there have been ZERO tantrums yesterday or today. The kids all played great together, I was watching in shock, just waiting for the meltdown. But it never came, Em has been much happier since cutting out casein. Even my ultra skeptical husband said he noticed a change in her demeanor. And I was at least 100X more relaxed yesterday w/out enduring a full day of non stop screaming and fighting! It could be just a fluke, lord I hope not... but so far so good.

So, I'm a believe that a casein intolerance can be as bad as gluten, I'm just kicking myself for not sticking to this earlier. This was just a hunch I had as to why she didn't seem 100% yet, and so far it seems to be working.........woohoo!

Kasey'sMom Enthusiast
Kasey'sMom
Posted

These are great ideas!! We like pesto and we enjoy having homemade pesto instead of tomato sauce sometimes. My dd has eczema and we've noticed that citrus & tomato breaks her mouth and lips out. So I have to be careful of home much tomato she gets. I've also roasted red peppers and pureed them with olive oil and sea salt for a great pizza spread. Mini veggie pizzas are great lunch box and snack ideas.

We can even eat popcorn with organic oils and sea salt now.

I'm a firm believer that Gluten-free Casein-free can help with postitive tempermant changes as well. We noticed a difference when our dd went gluten-free and another dramatic difference when she went cf. Who knew food could make such a difference in our physical and emotional health. :)

  • 2 years later...
ryan01 Newbie
ryan01
Posted

Galaxy Foods says their VEGAN a nd RICE VEGAN products do not contain casein. I found them b/c I was also looking for real non-dairy cheese (for pizza).

You may have to go to an organic foods store to find their products. If anything, contact the company for a retailer near you.

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MySuicidalTurtle Enthusiast
MySuicidalTurtle
Posted

Follow Your Heart cheese is the BEST! It melts and is so yummy on pizza even my non vegan friends eat it. It gluten, dairy, and casein-free. Also, the pizza chain Pizza Fusion uses it for their vegan/dairy-free pizzas. It is that good.

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Judyin Philly Enthusiast
Judyin Philly
Posted
Follow Your Heart cheese is the BEST! It melts and is so yummy on pizza even my non vegan friends eat it. It gluten, dairy, and casein-free. Also, the pizza chain Pizza Fusion uses it for their vegan/dairy-free pizzas. It is that good.

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great site but it contains soy....thanks tho

  • 2 months later...
minniejack Contributor
minniejack
Posted

We bought the Follow your heart mozzarella, montery jack and cheddar today from Whole Foods Market. Price was about $3.69 for an 8 oz block. Not too bad considering my family is currently selling 12 oz blocks of cheese from Amish country for a fundraiser for $5-6.

It tastes almost like the real thing without all the problems :P It melts great, too.

We 1st tried it at Pizza Fusion and my son was picking it off because he thought it was real cheese. :lol:

Mother of Jibril Enthusiast
Mother of Jibril
Posted

My breastfed son is VERY sensitive to casein, but dairy products from other animals (goats, sheep, etc...) have different proteins. I use a bit of goat cheese when I have pizza... it doesn't bother him!

Juliebove Rising Star
Juliebove
Posted

I know this is an old thread, but...

Vegan rice cheese is dairy free. And here are some beef based cheeses that are dairy free:

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  • 8 months later...
AvocadosNRainbows Newbie
AvocadosNRainbows
Posted

I'd say the best non-cheese out there is DAIYA cheese. It's so amazingly stretchy, and completely non-dairy. I've also heard decent things about Teese, but I can't get enough of Daiya. I personally don't love the 'Follow Your Heart' or 'Rice' brands.

  • 2 years later...
PlinEE Newbie
PlinEE
Posted

We bought the Follow your heart mozzarella, montery jack and cheddar today from Whole Foods Market. Price was about $3.69 for an 8 oz block. Not too bad considering my family is currently selling 12 oz blocks of cheese from Amish country for a fundraiser for $5-6.

It tastes almost like the real thing without all the problems :P It melts great, too.

We 1st tried it at Pizza Fusion and my son was picking it off because he thought it was real cheese. :lol:

found tofu substitute posted

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I am a big tofu fan now that I recently discovered I have IBS. I will test the tofu on pizza and let y'all know. Thanks for listening.

  • 8 months later...
mszaida Newbie
mszaida
Posted

Both my kids were casien intolerant as infants, so I had to stick to a strict casien free diet while nursing. I found that making calzones instead of pizza was easier, that way everyone got what they wanted. I did mine with olive oil, veggies, turkey pepperoni, ham, Italian seasoning.....etc. EVeryone else could have cheese and it wasn't a problem. It was delish! I never found a good alternative, even after 2 years. EVERYTHING had casien. I did use hummus in place of sourcream in a lot of recipes and that worked well. I just had to learn to do without the cheese. I did find some soy ice cream that was good and of course sorbet. Cheese was always a problem, though.

omg that is a great suggestion i will try to make gluten free calzones for my daughter. she was using daiya and it says milk free but she was having tantrums, getting frustrated too easily and being super hyper. i did n't know until tonight that it still has casein and soy which is another no no for her.

Welda Johnson Newbie
Welda Johnson
Posted

I've been gluten-free, milk & dairy free, egg white and yeast free, maltodextrin, msg, casein & whey free since 2000, though the casein dilemma threw me for a loop until I learned that is what was causing some of my problems! There is ONE cheese that I know of that has no casein or whey, and it even melts. That is VEGAN GOURMET mozarella. But, any other cheese made by VEGAN GOURMET is not safe. Good luck with this journey!

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