Dairy Free For All the Family

Pure have ‘perfect for all the family‘ written on the spiel on the side of their margarine packaging. It got me thinking what wonderful marketing that is. You see there is a perception that ‘dairy free’ or ‘free from’ anything is more expensive, harder to find, different food. It can certainly be the case. But so many items we put in our trolley every week in households with no allergies or intolerances are already free from various things naturally.

Here are nine things that are naturally dairy free:

1. Mayonnaise*  – many people assume mayonnaise contains dairy. Mayonnaise ingredients: oil, egg yolks, vinegar or lemon juice. Simple as. *Note many low fat mayonnaise may contain milk, so always check.

2. French bread –  baguettes or french rolls are made with flour, water, yeast and salt.

3. Jelly and jellies – most jelly and jellies are dairy free.

4. Breakfast cereals – many household names are dairy free Corn Flakes, Weetabix, Rice Krispies and Cheerios. Even some of the sugar-laden ones marketed at children such as Sugar Puffs and Coco Pops contain no milk. For a list of which ones are dairy free see my posts here.

5. Some biscuit favourites – Jaffa cakes, Bourbons, Kimberley, Mikado, Coconut creams, Oreos, to name a few. Digestives and rich tea are often free from milk products but depending on manufacturer they can contain milk.

6. Sorbet – most fruit sorbets are dairy free. It is necessary to check in restaurants though, as although the sorbet might be dairy free they might use a common bowl for the ice-cream and sorbet scoops.

7. Mereingue – egg-white and sugar. Delicious, versatile free dessert option. I love to make dairy free eton mess with mereingues, dairy free ice-cream or custard and fresh local strawberries.

8. Sliced pan  – most sliced loaves are dairy free.

9. Crackers – most crackers and rice cakes are dairy free.

My usual disclaimer applies, make sure to double check all labelling even if you are 99% sure it is dairy free. What the Tesco debacle has shown us  is that products are being updated all the time, labelling can change and ingredients can change. Also if one manufacturer has a dairy free item, it doesn’t automatically mean the item will be dairy free from a different producer.