A couple of weeks ago I stumbled upon this brand new product, and boy was it a fun find. Dairy free yogurt seems to be popping up all over the place (in my sheltered world) it would seem. Where there was once only Silk and a few other options, now there’s Ruby Rocket, Kite Hill, CocoYo, So Delicious, Coconut Cult, Forager, and a few others. Not everything is available all over the country, which is totally understandable – supply and demand. It’s important to always remember that commercially available dairy free yogurt will usually contain allergens. In the case of Vega, it contains Cashew, Coconut, Pea Protein, and what looks to be several corn derivatives. We found these Vega Dairy Free Vegan yogurts at Rainbow Grocery in San Francisco. Here’s what everyone had to say about them:
Vanilla
Dairy Free Kid: I love it!
3 Dairy Eaters: They agreed that at first, it tasted OK, then they were hit with a terrible after taste. Some would rather drink medicine…
Raspberry
Dairy Free Kid: I don’t like this one very much.
3 Dairy Eaters: One said it was really good. Another said that there was a really good start, then a slow building aftertaste that hits you. They began to wonder about the ingredients.
Blueberry
Dairy Free Kid: This is not a good flavor for me. I like it the least, and wouldn’t buy it.
3 Dairy Eaters: Nope. One said it was like grape flavored medicine. Another chimed in that it was sour. Then I heard it was like eating bad crackers.
Strawberry
Dairy Free Kid: I don’t like this one much either. There’s a synthetic flavor that interferes with the pleasure of eating this. Tasting this one makes me appreciate raspberry more.
3 Dairy Eaters: This one is in the middle of the road. However, the aftertaste never seems to go away, like it’s stuck to your tongue.
Conclusion
Overall, our dairy allergic child enjoyed the yogurts. His favorite (that he would want me to purchase again) is vanilla. He seems to like different flavors from different brands. For example, he loves the peach and raspberry from So Delicious, but not their vanilla.
I think it’s always important to take the reviews of our dairy eaters with a large grain of salt. They CAN have dairy. They’re not as adapted to alternative ingredients that are usually found in allergy friendly products. And let’s be honest, if you can have dairy, perhaps you’d be better off with a simple grass fed yogurt product. The dairy eaters decided that in order, they liked: Raspberry, Blueberry, Strawberry, Vanilla.
From me, The Allergy Chef: I appreciate that more companies are trying to meet the needs of our community. The Vega brand seems to be popular with athletic vegans from what I can tell. I suspect that if I were to use the Vega vanilla yogurt in some type of dessert, there would be no complaints. For now, I’ll stick to the vanilla for our dairy free kid. Have you tried this brand yet? We’d love to know what you thought. Leave a note in the comments 🙂
