Do you usually have Almond Breeze to satisfy your non-dairy milk needs? Well, you might want to check if your carton actually has dairy in it in the light of this brand of almond milk recalled from stores. Thousands of cartons, hundreds of thousands actually.
If you’re lactose intolerant or following a vegan diet, then this news about almond milk recalled might give you the shivers. HP Hood, the manufacturer of Almond Breeze almond milk recalled more than 145,000 cartons from the market, writes The Independent. The reason? It contained actual dairy!
“Milk inadvertently was entered into the processing equipment for almond milk,” HP Hood spokeswoman Lynne Bohan told the Huffington Post.
The alternative milk that contained actual dairy was shipped to no less than 28 states, from New York to Oklahoma. According to the company, the milk is safe to drink, unless you have a dairy allergy. Fortunately, only one allergic reaction has been reported until now, said the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), in a statement. And the person with the reaction did not require medical care.
Almond milk recalled: what should you do?
Well, the bottom line is: if you know you have a carton of half-gallon Almond Breeze in the refrigerator, check the carton. The ones recalled were of the Vanilla Almond Breeze variety. And the tainted batch should have a use-by date of September 2, 2018. Also check for a Universal Product Code of 41570 05621 printed on the side of the carton, near the nutritional facts.
The good news is that you can return the carton to the store you bought it from and get a full refund. “We have done a comprehensive review into the situation and we’ve made corrective actions and made changes to our process to ensure that this will never happen again,” Ms. Bohan said.
A popular, but costly product
Almond milk is made with ground almonds, filtered water, and other flavorings and it’s one of the most popular alternatives for cow’s milk you can have. Do you want numbers? We’ll give you numbers! According to Bloomberg, the almond milk market reached about $890m in US sales in 2015.
The trouble with almond milk is that it’s good for you but really bad for the environment. We can’t stress that enough.
So, while you enjoy the vitamins, minerals, fat, fiber, and other healthy compounds in it, the planet is taking quite the hit. It takes about 1.1 gallons (5 liters) of water to grow a single almond. And 80 percent of the world’s almond grow in California, a state plagued by horrible droughts recently. Also, almond farmers are drilling thousands of feet into the earth to pump out water, which leads to soil erosion and might trigger earthquakes.
You can also try making some oat milk if you want to reduce your almond milk consumption.
