Milk alternatives: away with the dairies

Supermarkets have come a long way since a South China Morning Post reader complained to the editor 11 years ago about the lack of options for the lactose intolerant. Today, there are so many milk alternatives available that the biggest problem is deciding which one to buy.

Walk into a supermarket and you're likely to find a range of milk substitutes derived from soy, rice, almond and oats. If you're in one of the posher grocery stores, you might even find hemp and flax milk.

Bart Cheng, key account manager with Hutchison Hain Organic (HHO), a Hong Kong-based distributor of natural and organic products, says demand for its range of milk alternatives has been growing since they were introduced in the city in 2010.

The company distributes Almond Dream, Soy Dream, Rice Dream and Westsoy. Sales of its two main products, the latter two, have grown 35 per cent in the past year at ParknShop supermarkets.

Faced with so many alternatives, Shane Early, a teacher at a local girls' college, wonders: "Soy milk, rice milk, almond milk - what's the real difference? I can't do dairy milk; my stomach gets very angry."

Reactions in the stomach to dairy products are symptoms of lactose intolerance and may include flatulence, diarrhoea, a bloated feeling, pains and cramps, stomach rumbling and a general ill feeling, according to Britain's National Health Service.

"Asians are more prone to lactose intolerance," says Karen Chong Kam-leng, a registered dietitian at Matilda International Hospital.