Almond milk, spelt milk, rice milk, coconut milk and soy milk are all available in supermarkets and organic shops. You are probably wondering whether you can give them to your baby? Can they replace the milk, breast or infant, that you give your child? As a paediatric dietician-nutritionist, this article allows me to address an important subject concerning the feeding of your little ones, and will most probably allow you to see things more clearly!
Where do plant juices come from?
These beverages, or more precisely, these vegetable juices, come from seeds from which the husks are removed and which are soaked in water in varying proportions. This mixture is then finely ground to an emulsion.
Since 2017, a ruling by the European Court of Justice has banned the name "milk" on their labels, with an exception for almond or coconut drinks. The word 'milk' is therefore retained for convenience, but this is a mistake that confuses consumers. These products do not have the same nutritional properties as cow's or sheep's milk, and even less so than breast milk or infant milk.
Their nutritional composition
As proof, here is the nutritional composition of the most commonly consumed vegetable juices (soya, almond, rice and coconut) compared to an infant milk which, for information, tries to be as close as possible to the composition of breast milk:
Macro and Micro-nutrients / Food | Breast milk | Infant milk1st age | Soy juice * | Almond juice * | Rice juice * | Coconut juice * |
Kcal | 69 | 72 | 36 | 36 | 53 | 15 |
Protein | 1.1 | 1.2 | 3.3 | 1 | <0.5 | <0.5 |
Fats | 4 | 3.8 | 2.1 | 3.2 | 1 | <0.3 |
Carbohydrates | 7 | 8 | 0.7 | 0.6 | 10.8 | 3.3 |
Calcium | 32 | 60 | 12 | 12 | 5 | 14 |
Iron | 0.06 | 0.65 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 0 | 0 |
From this table we can conclude that these drinks are indeed misleadingly called "milk", as their composition is clearly not suitable for babies. They are low in fat for the most part, inadequate in protein and above all non-bioavailable and inadequate in vitamins and minerals. Moreover, these vegetable juices are rarely supplemented with calcium and lack vitamin B12, a vitamin that only comes from the animal kingdom.
According to the French National Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health Safety (ANSES), insufficient energy, protein, fat, minerals, vitamins and trace elements can have repercussions on the growth in weight and height and on the cerebral development of young children. These drinks are therefore clearly inappropriate for young children, as a replacement for breast or infant milk.
Let's zoom in on some details...
I also think it is important to focus on soya juice. Indeed, the latter is rich in isoflavones and can disturb the youngest at the hormonal level. As studies are underway, the Directorate-General for Competition, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Control (DGCCRF) is requesting that the quantities of phyto-oestrogens in vegetable drinks containing soya be mentioned, and that reservations concerning pregnant women and children be precisely stated.
Despite all this information, it is important to specify that occasional consumption, which would not be with the aim of replacing maternal or infant milk with this type of drink, can of course be possible. It is possible to offer these juices, in small quantities for discovery, at the time of food diversification, around 4/6 months, taking into account the introduction of allergens, such as almonds for example, and avoiding the soya drink.
To do this, here are some recipes that you can offer your children, taking care to choose vegetable juices that do not contain added sugar and if possible with added calcium: fine semolina with almond juice, pancake or crepe with oat juice, porridge with hazelnut juice and banana, raspberry cake with almond juice, banana smoothie with oat juice... Your baby will certainly appreciate these recipes, which will allow him to discover new tastes and new flavours, so that he can continue this wonderful adventure of dietary diversification little by little!
Dietician - Nutritionist specialising in paediatrics
Sources
- CIQUAL: Ciqual Table de composition nutritionnelle des aliments (anses.fr), May 2021
- ANSES: Avis de l'ANSES relatif aux risques liés à l'utilisation de boissons autres que le lait maternel et les substituts du lait maternel dans l'alimentation des nourrissons de la naissance à 1 an, Saisine n°2011-SA-0261, February 2013
- UFC-Que choisir: Dossier sur les perturbateurs endocriniens dans les produits Ă base de soja, published on 23/05/2019