Last Update in April 2024! I know what many of you are thinking. “Vegans don’t consume dairy, case closed!” But we’ve entered a new era of food engineering, which is blurring those once distinct lines. Most vegan food products are still dairy-free, but not all. In this post I’ll explain why, and we’ll keep a running list of vegan brands and products that aren’t dairy free, for your quick reference.
Is Vegan Dairy Free? Usually, But These Products are Not!
Vegan diets ban all animal-derived products, which typically includes meat, seafood, dairy, eggs, and bee products, like honey. Animal-derived is the key phrase here. Crafty food scientists have managed to create dairy proteins in the lab without the use of animals in any way. But how?
Milk Proteins without the Cow
Companies are utilizing a few different technologies, but they all involve genetically engineering a non-animal organism (like yeast or plants) to produce dairy proteins. They do so using the genome of a dairy cow, which has been fully mapped, and is readily available. So no animals, or derivatives of animals, are used to produce vegan “dairy.” Nonetheless, the proteins produced are molecularly identical to dairy proteins. This means they could still cause milk allergy reactions and have medical implications for people who have health issues or concerns with milk proteins.
Vegan Dairy is Not Non-GMO
Most of the brands listed below are heavily marketing the idea that the milk proteins are “made in a kitchen, not a lab.” It is true that the products do not contain genetically modified organisms, but they are created from genetically modified organisms. This is why they cannot be certified non-GMO. Last time I checked, microflora don’t naturally produce milk proteins. They might use a natural fermentation process in the production of the proteins, but they first have to genetically modify the microflora used to produce them.
Vegan Brands & Products that are NOT Dairy Free
When I first posted about this new technological development, I honestly didn’t think it was going to be wildly successful. But investment money keeps pouring into engineered proteins, and new vegan dairy products are steadily popping up. I know – as if finding dairy-free products wasn’t frustrating enough! But I’ll do my best to keep you continuously informed with this guide. And you might be interested to know that these brands seem to be disappearing as quickly as they pop up!
In most cases, these vegan products are lactose-free (always check!). But they are not dairy-free, due to the use of engineered, “bio-identical” dairy proteins. They should always have milk clearly listed in the ingredients or contains statement. Nevertheless, the “animal-free” and “vegan” labels can confuse anyone. We’ve included a sample product or logo image with each brand, to help you spot them at a glance.
Bored Cow
Tomorrow Farms has launched this line of flavored milks using Perfect Day milk proteins. They promote it as “animal free,” “lactose free,” and “vegan friendly,” but of course, it is not dairy-free.
Breyers
As if their “lactose-free” line didn’t confuse enough people, now Breyers is releasing “lactose-free plus” chocolate ice cream made with animal-free dairy. It’s a joint venture between Perfect Day and Unilever, the parent company of Breyers.
CO2COA
Their label states “animal-free dairy” and “lactose-free,” but neither of these claims should be mistaken for dairy-free. This brand from mega-chocolatier Mars is made with genetically engineered whey protein from Perfect Day. Please note that they are also promoting this product as “vegan friendly.” That said, this product line is still awaiting full release, and hasn’t yet made it to market.
Creamilux
This is an ingredient, not a completed product, but could start popping up in products soon. It’s “animal-free” milk fat, produced with precision fermentation by Nourish Ingredients.
Graeter’s Perfect Indulgence
Graeter’s Ice Cream Shops are popular in the midwest, but they’ve become confusing for dairy-free customers. Their “Perfect Indulgence” line of scoops and pints is made with Perfect Day’s “animal-free,” genetically engineered dairy proteins (read more below).
MYProtein
Their Whey Forward protein powder is made with Perfect Day’s genetically engineered whey. They do disclaim milk, but it s marketed as “animal-free” and made with “non-animal whey.” And as with other brands, the milk notations are much smaller than the marketing messages.
New Culture
This vegan cheesemaker is now sprinkling distribution of their mozzarella shreds to pizzerias across the U.S. starting in 2023. They dance around their process with marketing keywords and child-like phrases, but they are using the same process as Perfect Day, discussed below. It involves genetically modifying yeast or other flora to produce casein, the primary dairy protein in cheese.
Nobell Foods
This producer has received ample funding to recreate the unique genetic code of casein in soybean seeds, to grow plants that have the same dairy caseins found in animal milks. It sounds as if this is, technically, a genetically modified food. They have plans to hit the market with vegan dairy cheese in late 2022 or early 2023.
Nurishh (select products)
We were sad to see Bel Brands decided to split up a previously dairy-free brand. Some Nurishh Cheese Alternatives are still made without dairy, but they launched an animal-free cream cheese line under this brand that is made with Perfect Day’s genetically engineered milk proteins.
Perfect Day
This was the first company to hit the market with lab-created milk proteins. They genetically engineer yeast with DNA to make it produce casein and whey. So technically, the end product is not genetically modified, but it is produced by a genetically modified organism. They originally launched their own ice cream, but shifted gears to supply their proteins to other food manufacturers. They have also launched a vegan dairy milk with their whey proteins (it’s in test marketing at select Starbucks) and they are working with companies to produce vegan dairy yogurt. So keep an eye out for the Perfect Day logo on vegan products.
Remilk
They haven’t hit the market yet, but are working hard in their Tel Aviv Israel lab to create milk and cheese products from genetically engineered casein proteins that are molecularly identical to cow’s milk casein proteins. They are using mRNA technology. Like Perfect Day’s process, the end product is not genetically modified, but it is created via a process of genetic engineering. They do plan to release products in North America.
Those Vegan Cowboys
This Belgian company is focused on cheese, and uses precision fermentation to create real casein proteins. At the time of writing, they weren’t to market yet, but are close!
Discontinued Vegan Dairy Products
Several products have vanished since our initial post about the not-so perfect day vegan dairy emerged:
- Betterland Foods was making “cow-free” milk and Woo chocolate bars with Perfect Day, but the company seemingly disappeared overnight!
- Bold Cultr cream cheese was released by General Mills, but they soon defunded the line.
- Brave Robot ice cream and cake mixes by Perfect Day have been phased out.
- Coolhaus was bought by The Urgent Company. The new owner promptly changed their dairy line to “animal-free” dairy, while keeping the dairy-free line. Now the brand has seemingly disappeared from shelves.
- California Performance Co. made protein powders, but they have been discontinued.
- Cowabunga milk was an animal-free venture between Nestle and Perfect Day. It seems it wasn’t successful enough.
- Ice Age made Hong Kong’s first animal-free dairy ice cream, but it was a short lived venture.
- Modern Kitchen was an animal-free cream cheese from The Urgent Company. It’s folded.
- Mooless by Natreve was a line of animal-free whey protein powders, but they are no longer produced.
- N!cks is still around, but their vegan animal-free ice cream line was discontinued.
- Nomoo had a more deceptive name, which might be why they’re no longer producing animal-free yogurt pouches for kids.
- Perfect Day no longer produces their own line of ice cream.
- Real Vegan Cheese was a venture by Counter Culture Labs that didn’t pan out.
- Renegade Creamery was another cheesy endeavor by General Mills that was also defunded.
- Smitten Kitchen’s N’ice Cream was discontinued due to “supply issues.”
Please note that we are not passing any judgement about these foods, but simply reporting vegan dairy foods that consumers could easily mistake for dairy-free products.
Related Reading for Dairy-Free Consumers
- What are “May Contain” Allergy Statements and What They Mean for You
- Non Dairy vs Dairy Free: Why One May Contain Milk
- When Vegan Isn’t Dairy-Free, a New Era of Engineered Food
- Vegan Dairy on Restaurant Menus? Why the Desserts Might Not be Safe
13 Comments
As a dietitian who educates families on how to be dairy-free, I find this especially disconcerting. I’ve been teaching “vegan” is safe completely unaware of this development. On the label, how are these whey and casein ingredients named so they can be identified?
They do have to identify “milk allergen” on the label. But it can simply be with the ingredients and/or contains statement.
As a parent of a dairy allergic child I thank you for bringing light to the production of these products. We are avid label readers and communicators with companies but I was unaware this process was as advanced so much. Thank you for sharing!
I’m happy to help. Indeed, I didn’t expect it to progress so quickly either!
I tried one of these brands a while back, not thinking that if I had terrible reactions to dairy I would also have terrible reactions to something that was genetically identical to it. I only ate two spoons full and my day was thoroughly ruined. I’m glad you’re putting this information out there!
I’m so sorry that happened to you Elizabeth!
This is very frustrating. While I appreciate that many are avoiding dairy because of their personal preferences to eat only vegan products this is an entirely different issue for those that are dairy free because of an allergy. I hope the manufacturers realize the importance of stating that it is not dairy free on the front and in the allergy listings on the back label as this is critical for some.
By law, they do still have to state milk allergen on the ingredient statement. Even though it is genetically engineered milk protein, it’s created to be bio-identical, and thus covered under the allergen labeling recommendations. That said, most brands don’t seem to prominently display “contains milk” on the front. I’ve seen it in small or hard to notice spots. I think this might change going forward, as consumers become more confused by these products.
Thank you for bringing this forward. I was not aware of these products and my daughter now 30 still has a severe dairy allergy and it is important to keep this information circulating.
Wow! As if we didn’t have enough labels to read it’s so disappointing to find out that now we have to check ingredients on Vegan products for possible hidden dairy. Thanks for bringing it to our attention as I have to admit that if it says Vegan or has the Vegan logo, most of the time we do not read the label.
Seriously disappointing, I agree. Fortunately, it isn’t too many products yet. And we’ll do our best to keep this list updated with all “vegan dairy” brands as they emerge.
We should (like I am doing now) try to find books that can help us avoid animal made/or have animal by products in them. I purchased a book already called “ANIMAL INGRIDENTS FROM A to Z (the third edition)”. I got the book from Amazon.com. If you find any books that can help vegans avoid all animal and all it’s by products lets us vegans know about it.
These are NOT ANIMAL PRODUCTS and they are vegan.