Milk and dairy sidelined in Canada Food Guide: Here are alternatives

Canada's Food Guide has changed dramatically a revision more than a decade in the making and a major component is all but gone: milk and dairy. (A disclosure: I love milk, cream, yogurt and cheese and eat them regularly.)

Gone are the days of the food guide "rainbow" with milk and alternatives having their own cascade of colour, along with vegetables and fruit, grain products as well as meat and alternatives.

Clearly, there is a move away from animal proteins. Saturated fat like that found in butter and cream is out; unsaturated fat like nuts, avocado and olive oil are in.To be accurate, red meat does contain some polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats.

(You can't) follow the rainbow

The new guide is a three-part plate: a majority (that is, "plenty") of fruits and vegetables, protein foods and (the now much more distinct) whole grains. Water is the beverage of choice.

Among the proteins is a wee ramekin of what looks like yogurt. It's obvious: the dairy lobby lost the battle, and milk, decades ago considered a "super food," has been demoted.

The move is on: at grocery stores and specialty food shops, the trend is toward oat beverages (it's not milk because it's not from a lactating mammal), nut and coconut "milks" and other plant-based drinks.

At Full Circle Foods in Kitchener, Stephanie Jennersaidthere was already a pronounced movement away from dairy that started before the new guide.

"Non-dairy products have always been big her, but interest has grown unbelievably, especially the last five years. The increased demand has been crazy. It used to be almond, but now, coconut and cashew are really popular."

Several years ago, soy was one of the only alternatives available, but Full Circle stocks a half-dozen or so different non-dairy "milks " sitting on their shelves at eye level in the cooler and notably above the organic cow's milk.

Not all milk alternatives created equal

There are many non-dairy products, but consider the currenttrendy oat beverage. It has a rich, creamy texture, and it doesn't curdle in hot coffee like soy products.

Depending on the particular brand, an oat beverage can have health benefits, though it can have additives including sugar. The nutrition facts vary too, unlike the uniformity for cow's milk, depending on whether it is skim or whole, for instance.

"The only milk alternative that would be comparable to cow's milk would be soy, and that is because of the protein content and fortification," said Katherine Sutherland, Registered Dietitian.

In terms of protein, oat beverage has about four grams of protein per cup, while two-percent cow's milk has nine.

However, an oat drink can have less fat, less sugar and less sodium at the same time it has fibre, no cholesterol, fewer calories and more iron.

Navigating the products requires knowing your specific dietary needs and doing your homework, according to Sutherland.

"It comes down to label reading and making sure the drink has 30 percent calcium and vitamin D. Something like oat milk can be high in carbohydrates, too," said Sutherland.

As for price,oat beverage at Full Circle is about $5.79 (1.75L) compared to Neilson whole milk at $4.45 (2L). The oat drink also has a shorter shelf life.

In your double-double

Moving from your fridge to food-service operations, non-dairy alternatives at coffee shopsare hit-and-miss: many Tim Horton's can offer non-dairy creamers but not McDonald's.

Specialty coffee shops, however, are different. There are even non-dairy alternatives that have been produced to accommodate new trends in coffee sourcing and roasting.

At Show and Tell in Kitchener, co-owner Chris Tellez says baristas at the Ontario Street shop are asked for milk alternatives "about 30 percent of the time."

"It's significant. We use an oat milk product that's designed to work well with the lighter, brighter and slightly more acidic coffee that many shops are now using," Tellez says.

His shop, in this day-and-age of crafted and bespoke creation, also prepares its own blend of coconut and almond milk.

At restaurants, availability can be hit-and-miss. You can get a non-dairy "creamer" for your coffee at Charcoal Group restaurants but not at King Street Trio or Fat Sparrow Group restaurants.

"The demand isn't quite there yet for us to keep up with it on a regular basis in terms of freshness," said Nick Benninger of Waterloo-based Fat Sparrow Group.

In Stratford, Ryan O'Donnell says Mercer Hall keeps coconut-almond milk ready for when customers request it, which is a few times a month.

"On the menu, we have 10 non-dairy options, but we don't use a lot of soy milk or other dairy substitutes except for coconut milk, which we use for flavour," he said.

The relegation of dairy is perhaps a harbinger of a general movement away from animal proteins that focuses on both health and the environment in a food guide where industry influence is less present, according to according to Sylvain Charlebois, a professor in food distribution and policyat Dalhousie University.

"Dairy and meat products have lost the protein wars, which means that in Ottawa, Health Canada won over Agriculture and Food Canada, probably for the first time," said Charlebois.