Reading Labels

As a novice to the dairy-free lifestyle, I'll admit there is a bit of a learning curve. Here are a few of the things I've learned from researching and reading labels. (I read labels on everything now.)

Ingredients NOT to eat:

• milk/butter/cheese
• lactose
• whey
• casein

Surprising sources of these ingredients:

• Most sausage and processed meats contain casein
• Many vitamins, tablets, and medicines use lactose as a binder
• There seems to be dried milk solids in just about everything from bread and tortillas, to crackers and cereals, and anything breaded
  

Ingredients that are OK to eat:

• coco butter
• peanut butter
• almond butter
• apple butter
• pumpkin butter
• Shea butter
• mango butter
• seed butters and vegetable butters
• coconut milk
  

Foods that are good substitutes:

• almond milk, soy milk, rice milk, or coconut milk for cow's milk (I prefer the almond milk)
  
• vegetable shorting, such as Soy Garden Natural Buttery Spread (vegan) for butter on toast
• olive oil or vegetable oil for butter when cooking
• Tofutti Sour Supreme Better than Sour Cream for sour cream
• Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese for cream cheese
• Silk brand coffee creamer for whipping cream in recipes (I'm not sure how well it whips up for whipping cream; I'll have to try it)
• dark chocolate and Baker's unsweetened and semi-sweet baking chocolates don't contain dairy, but read the labels (Note: cocoa butter is not dairy)
• often fresh-made bakery bread does not contain dairy; also sour-dough bread is usually safe
  
• soy cheese and rice cheese as decent substitutes for cheese, however I often find it's easier to leave it off
• Don't cook with rice cheese - it curdles, although the slices melt well for grilled cheese sandwiches
• One friend likes rice Parmesan
• I found a pepper jack soy cheese that's pretty good
• I learned the hard way that just because a "cheese" is called "veggie slices" doesn't mean that it's dairy free; read the label!

Remember to read all labels!