Silk Soy Milk Now Dairy?

[teachermom]

I just got an email from our rabbi saying that Silk Soymilk was now OU-D. I check my carton and sure enough, there was the D, but no dairy ingredients on the label and another statement that the product was lactose free and dairy free. What's the deal with this OU-D? If people with milk allergies can drink this product, why can't we drink it with a meat meal? Something is strange.

[DeisCane]

BTW, I know the whole Dairy Equipment issue has been talked about so I wanted to share that I noticed our NesQuik is listed as OU and in the ingredients it says that it is made on equipment that processes dairy, wheat, etc.

[LI Guy]

8th Continent brand soy milk is pareve.

[Arthur]

Here's what baffles me about this: If every single Silk product without exception is dairy-free and vegan, as the Silk website attests, then how on earth does the equipment used in the preparation of all those nothing-but-dairy-free products come into contact with dairy?

[avitrek]

They might not own their own equipment. So when Silk is not running their soy milk through the machine some other company that is dairy runs through the machine.

[rachelb99]

Silk soy milk has always been marked OUD. I asked the OU and received an answer that it was indeed dairy equipment. This was a couple years ago. Did something change?

[teachermom]

I don't know if anything changed; for some reason our rabbi was just informed of this. I still don't understand how soy milk, something relied upon by people sensitive to dairy, could have any contact with dairy. And just as an aside, it bothers me so many people are needlessly avoiding contact with products marked OU-D after a meat meal because of this extra strict D designation.

[UWSFoodie]

So sad for all the cholov yisroel people who get soy drinks from starbucks!

[whitewater]

Even when the product was certified by the Scroll-K of Denver it was given the designation of DE (Dairy equipment), the OU doesn't have any DE designation. It is best, in these types of situations, to speak with the OU for clarification on specific products.

[zsero]

Lactose-free does *not* mean no milk. Nor does "non-dairy", which means the same thing as lactose-free. People with allergies to milk should probably avoid it. (There is no such thing as an allergy to lactose; many people are intolerant of lactose, but nobody is allergic to it. But some people *are* allergic to casein, which many "non-dairy" products do contain.)

That said, you can call the OU to find out what makes this particular product have a D. The answer is probably that it's made on the same equipment as a dairy product, which means you can have it after meat but not with meat.

PS: Only the chocolate has become "D". Plain Silk is still pareve.

[DeisCane]

BTW, I've found many supermarket house brands are now pareve. I used Pathmark Soy Milk last week for a pareve pumpkin pie and it was great

[sarevem]

I beg to differ. There is such a thing as an allergy to lactose, and it is different than lactose intolerance. I am allergic to milk but not to whey nor casein. RAST allergy tests came back positive for a lactose allergy.