February 05, 2019
Oat milk — which is, indeed, questionably referred to as milk despite its lack of dairy — was projected by PhillyVoice and other outlets to be a big trend in 2019. So far, 36 days into the year, the projection is on the money.
It was announced Monday that So Delicious, a major purveyor of all things dairy-free — including cheese, yogurt, coffee creamer and ice cream — will launch a line of oat milk-based vegan ice cream.
The line features three flavors: Peanut Butter and Raspberry, with black raspberries and whole peanuts; Oatmeal Cookie, with oatmeal raisin cookie chunks and molasses; and Caramel Apple Crumble, with fresh apples and brown sugar. All of the flavors are gluten-free — which is particularly noteworthy as not all oats are gluten-free — and non-GMO.
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This was big news for the vegan community, which responded to the company’s Instagram announcement with an outpouring of excitement, including more than 15,000 likes and 1,200-plus comments.
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The oat milk ice cream news was preceded by the announcement that Coffee-Mate's Natural Bliss Oat Milk Creamer has hit stores. Clocking in at 25 calories per serving, the non-dairy creamer is made with water, oat flour, cane sugar, coconut oil, pea protein, baking soda, gellan gum, and natural flavors.
Further, a related announcement was made this week: the emergence of oat milk yogurt. A form vegan yogurt that was previously only available for those so inclined via homemade recipes, Nancy’s Yogurt launched a probiotic-rich oat milk yogurt. Available in plain, blueberry, vanilla and strawberry hibiscus flavors, packs a whopping six grams of protein — thanks to faba bean protein — and minimal sugars with only 70 to 100 calories.
Why do people love oat milk products, you ask? Well, as we know, oats have the ability to reduce “bad” cholesterol — cue all of the Quaker Oats commercials of years past — and it boasts a super-similar consistency to cow’s milk, according to Well and Good.
But celebrity nutritionist Kelly LeVeque tells the health website about some of the non-dairy milk’s less-than-stellar qualities:
“It’s definitely sustainable, but, in my opinion, a potentially gluten-contaminated, pesticide-covered grain milk with very little nutrition is not a very good option when you have milks like coconut milk that offers MCT for brain health, almond milk that offers potassium for muscle health, and hemp milk that offers a little bit of protein if you’re plant-based,” she writes. “Worse, the second ingredient in most oat milks is rapeseed oil – aka canola oil – which is highly inflammatory.”
