Eau Claire (WQOW)- Consumers are buying more plant based milks, but should they be considered milk?
Susan Kasik-Miller, a clinical dietitian at HSHS Sacred Heart, said milk from a cow doesn’t need any changes to be consumed, while a milk product from a nut or fruit needs to be processed and altered before consumed, so it’s not considered milk.
Kasik-Miller said skim milk and plant-based milks have about the same number of calories, but cows milk has significantly more protein.
"Our plant-based proteins aren’t always complete, and also some of our milks that are derived from plants do not contain much more than one gram of protein," Kasik-Miller said.
She said some people need to drink plant-based milks because they’re lactose intolerant, so they should choose a brand with more protein.
The FDA said these plant-based products like almond and soy milk will no longer be able to label themselves milk. The changes will take about one year.
