Mighty Milk is NOT Milk Free – When Dairy Free isn’t Dairy Free…

Looky here – it says right on the Mighty Milk display box that it is Milk Free – or rather “Contains No Milk.”

“Wow!” I thought.  That’s really neat. Why haven’t I heard of this product before?

So I pick up the box to check out the ingredients.

Before I go any further, if you’ve been a reader of mine for any length of time, you know that my kids and I have numerous food allergies.  Included in this list is dairy, or any product derived from milk or containing milk products.  Our youngest child has been cursed with this allergy, the poor thing, while his brother outgrew it before he was 2.

I often rely on Vegan labels for certain items, but I have learned to not trust them.  Vegan does not necessarily mean dairy free.  While I don’t know how these food manufacturers get away with it, they somehow do.  Read my last article about how Dairy Free doesn’t always mean Dairy Free.

Back to the Mighty Milk…

Since I’ve encountered odd situations where “Vegan” doesn’t mean Vegan and Dairy Free doesn’t mean Dairy Free (ugh), I still check labels just to be sure.  In addition to checking for the other allergens in our home (peanut, tree nut and egg), I double check milk in these situations now.

So, the display case says “Contains No Milk”, but the nutrition label’s Allergen Statement says something else.

Contains Ingredients Derived from Milk

Oh yeah…I had to take a photo of this.  It’s right there in black and white (literally).  “This product contains ingredients derived from MILK…”

What the hell?!

It’s this kind of false advertising that puts children and adults with food allergies at risk for serious reactions, trips to the hospital, and the need for long-term medication until the offending allergen finally leaves the system.  How do these companies get away with outright lies on their products?  How can something contain ingredients derived from milk, but still claim to contain no milk?  I don’t understand that at all.

It’s irritating, to say the least…but more infuriating than anything else.

ALWAYS READ THE LABEL!

Related articles

• Know the Signs of a Milk Allergy (everydayhealth.com)
• FlaxMilk: Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Soy and Nut Free Milk Beverage – Food Allergy Awareness Week (FAAW) (alwayssick.com)
• Health Canada warns of ‘dairy-free’ products that contain milk (healthzone.ca)