The issue is, many plant-based alternatives are heavily promoted as healthier than cow’s milk, but they often contain added sugar and are mostly water. For example, some almond milks contain only 2% almonds!
Many food manufacturers use a combination of stabilisers and emulsifiers to make them thick and ‘milk like’. From a nutrition perspective, to replace cow's milk, plant-based milks should be fortified with calcium (see below for what amounts to look for when it comes to calcium). In terms of the best nutrient composition, of all the plant-based milks an unsweetened soy milk tops the list.
Tips on how to decide which plant-based milk in terms of health
When choosing the best plant-based milk option in terms of health, here are some tips:
- Look at the Nutrition Information Panel to make sure it contains more than 120mg calcium per 100mL milk. If there is no calcium listed in the Nutrition Information Panel, then chances are it doesn’t contain any
- Check the Ingredients List to see if it contains added sugar (as this isn’t specified on the Nutrition Information Panel in Australia)
- Don’t get swayed by fancy packaging, check the labels
- Stock up when the good ones are on sale as they can sit in your pantry for months
- If you buy coffee out, ask your local cafe which one they use (they often use the sweetened ones).
There is limited evidence in Australia on the exact environmental impact of individual foods, due to little funding and research. However, there are some things that you can do to help choose a more eco-friendly option when choosing between plant-based milks, remembering that plant-based foods generally have a lower impact on the environment compared to animal-based foods.
How to choose a more environmentally sustainable option
When choosing the best plant-based milk option in terms of the environmental impact, here are some tips:
- Choose the one made with the highest proportion (%) of Australian ingredients. Ideally more than 80% of the ingredients should be Australian. This is different from Australian Made, which can be using imported ingredients which have high food miles
- Try to choose one made with recycled materials and the packaging is recyclable
- Choosing one made with organic ingredients can reduce the artificial fertiliser or chemical use in soil
- Try to choose one that has lining that is BPA free (if it's labelled)
- Growing rice produces more greenhouse gas emissions than many other commonly consumed grains, but remember, the proportion of actual rice is often small, so we recommend also considering food miles and packaging
- Only buy what you need. If you don’t go through much, buying small cartons would be better than throwing out what you haven’t used.