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Read the label--your soy yogurt may contain milk
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Stonyfield's O'Soy Soy Yogurt has milk as an ingredient
Several conclusions formed in my mind when I saw the words “soy yogurt”. My base assumption was that it contained soy, which led to notion that it was not made from milk. From there, I made the jump that it would be safe for people with dairy allergies, such as my son. My final thought was that it would be a wonderful afternoon snack for my baby. Stonyfield O’Soy Soy Yogurt proved me wrong on all but one of these conclusions—their product does, in fact, contain soy.
After he had inhaled about half of the four ounce container, I happened to notice this chilling statement underneath the ingredients list: “Contains soy and milk”. Milk? Why would there be milk in soy yogurt? I quickly fought the urge to pass out from terror and dialed the 1-800 number on the package, hoping to find out exactly how much milk was in this yogurt and in what form. Because no emergency can occur during normal business hours, the phone lines were shut down, but an automated voice told me that if I held the line, someone would pick up momentarily to assist me with my medical concern.
I waited for five agonizing minutes. There was no music, no advertising, no pre-recorded voice assuring me that my call was important—just dead, uncaring air. Thinking I had been disconnected somehow, I called back and received the same treatment. I had never felt so betrayed by yogurt.
My son survived the incident without any noticeable harm, but I was completely traumatized. It is my understanding that soy is frequently used by people who do not consume dairy, perhaps because of an allergy, lactose intolerance, a vegan diet, etc. While I admit full responsibility in my neglect to closely examine the label before giving it to my son, I suspect there are probably quite a few people who are new to this food avoidance game who may make the same mistake I did, but might suffer a different outcome. The next morning, I called Stonyfield again to find out why and how milk was being used in a product that would typically appeal to a dairy-free consumer.
The representative informed me that this specific product has six probiotic cultures, two of which are grown in milk. (The details are proprietary, however, the spokeswoman did say there is no alternative method of growing those two cultures at this time.) The cultures ingest lactose, casein, and milk protein, meaning that those three things should not be present in the final product. What’s left of the milk after those parts are removed is present in the yogurt in amounts no greater than 5 ppm (parts per million). Stonyfield does not believe that these levels are high enough to cause a reaction in most sensitive or allergic people, but if there is concern, please consult a doctor before eating any of the product.
Stonyfield promised to send my complaint to product development, though that didn’t provide me with any satisfaction as to why cultures that require milk to grow are being used in soy yogurt. I was also unable to obtain a general answer as to how the cultures metabolize the milk proteins. Milk proteins are present in human breastmilk unaltered by mother’s digestive system, so are they also sneaking into the yogurt through the cultures that ate them? My son’s allergy is moderate, so perhaps he could tolerate a few milk proteins, but it isn’t a chance I would want to take if I suffered from severe allergic reactions to dairy.
In Conclusion:
Baby’s opinion: It’s kind of rude to feed me something delicious, then snatch it away like that.
MaMa’s opinion: Read the label, as things are not always what they seem!
If you would like more information about this specific product, please call 1-800-PRO-COWS. If you have technical or detailed questions, you may be asked to wait on hold for an answer from the lab.
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