gluten-free Vanilla-flavored Rice Or Almond Milk

[kempy99]

My 3-year-old was recently dx with casein intolernce (on top of the gluten intolerance). His doc suggested that we rotate soy/rice/almond milk with him. I'm wondering if there are any suggestions for a good-tasting vanilla-flavored ones.

Thanks!

Rebecca

[Carriefaith]

Almond Breeze makes vanilla, chocolate, and plain almond milk. Natur-a makes vanilla and plain rice milk (They also make soy milk). Both products are gluten and dairy free.

[flagbabyds]

The almond breeze is really good. I absolutely detest the rice milk, it tastes horrible.

[jenvan]

pacific rice milk is good in vanilla or plain. its what i use every morning on cereal. lundberg and full circle orginial are gluten-free too. don't use rice dream (not gluten-free). i actually prefer rice over almond milk...its all about personal taste. soy milk is pretty good, but doesn't agree with me

[tarnalberry]

I agree - it's personal preference and you'll have to try them. I'm a fan of Almond Breeze, but for cooking, prefer to use unsweetened Silk Soy milk. I generally prefer that in my cereal too, and just use Almond Breeze for hot beverages like tea and cocoa because it's too sweet for cereal for me.

[lonewolf]

I also like Almond Breeze, but think the Vanilla is a little too sweet. They also make an "original" that is sweetened, but not much - only 8 carbs per cup and 2 varieties of unsweetened - regular and vanilla. I mix a carton of unsweetened vanilla with the regular vanilla and it's really good. The original is good for baking, because it isn't too sweet and doesn't have too much nutty flavor. My favorite use of the regular vanilla is to make hot "cocoa" using carob powder and peppermint flavoring. Dairy free and much lower in sugar than regular cocoa. (I try to limit my chocolate.)

[kempy99]

Thank you so much for the suggestions

[Becky6]

We love the chocolate flavored almond breeze. YUM!

[Jen H]

I like Pacific Vanilla Almond milk. I drink it straight up.

[mommida]

We have been using the chocolate Almond Breeze and love it. I've just seen unsweetened Almond breeze listed as an option in my co-op. (vanilla and chocolate)

Laura

[Laura]

On the subject of Rice Dream, I quote from a letter to Gluten-Free Living magazine and their response to it:

I've always had an issue with Imagine Foods "Rice Dream" drink, which now lists its gluten content as being less than .002%.

When I was newly diagnosed, about 10 years ago, there was no such indication on the label. At that time I drank more than a quart a day with no noticeable reaction. With the changed label, and after the recommendations of some medical "experts," I have long since stopped drinking "Rice Dream."

After reading the article [on how celiacs can use PPMs to decide if a food is safe], I did some math: .002%=.002/100=.00002=2/100,000=20/1,000,000=20ppm. If I've done that correctly, the amount on the label equates to less than 20ppm. That is the smallest amount of gluten that even the best methods can accurately detect.

I now applaud the makers of this beverage for their respectable labeling and I may even consider drinking an occasional glass. Thanks for the enlightening article.

And the response from the article's author:

[The] math is correct, and so is his conclusion that there is no reason to stay away from this product. This processor followed a very honest lableing method. They could have used a marketing approach and simply asked their suppliers whether their was any source of gluten in their ingredients. If the suppliers said "no," they could have assumed that there was no human error along the way and labeled the product as gluten free.

Instead, this processor chose a more honorable route and actually tested the product and reported the results in a scientifically valid way. They could just as reasonably have labeled the product as containing "no detectable gluten." This statement would be equally valid, since .002% or 20 PPM is about the smallest concentration that can be detected and saying the product contains less than .002% is equivalent to saying that the test detects nothing. (Don't forget that the processor is not saying the product actually does contain 20 PPM of gluten but that the product contains somewhere between 20 PPM gluten and zero gluten.)

Take-away message: Sounds like it's ok to have some Rice Dream if you want.