While milk allergy has been a large problem for many years, especially with levels of intolerance rising recently, there are ways around it! Dairy allergies also affect infants to a larger degree: 2% of children develop a sensitivity to milk, although 80% overcome it naturally by age 6.
Though uncommon, food allergies can have serious consequences. The totalincidence of true food allergy is about 1% to 2% in adults, and 5% to 8% in young children. Often soymilk and tofu can take the place of the more allergenic foods, such as cow's milk and eggs. However, some people are also allergic to soy. Those who are allergic to soy may be able to tolerate some soyfoods, but not others.
It is important for these people to read food labels and familiarize themselves with the ingredients. Children often outgrow their allergies within a few years. The most common food allergies are to cow's milk, eggs, peanuts, and fish, although any food can be potentially allergenic.
The best treatment for a food allergy is complete avoidance of the allergenic food. This means that alternative foods must be found to provide the missing nutrients. Identifying alternative foods is especially crucial in the case of young children because they are in a phase of rapid growth and development.
Soy-based infant formulas have been used since 1929 to feed infants with cow's milk protein allergies. Today's soy formulas are equivalent to cow's milk formulas in digestibility, nutritional profile, and acceptability. In healthy infants, soy formulas promote normal growth, nutritional status, and bone mineralization.
For most, problems with milk allergies or intolerence can be dealth with by avoidance and substitution. By carefully reading labels and investigating mysterious ingredients, allergy sufferers can avoid problematic food. Better yet, dairy alternatives like soyfoods (e.g. soymilk, tofu, tempeh), rice milk, and almond milk exist for drinking and cooking purpoases.
If you have a serious allergy, consider an automatic milk maker - if you're used to buying expensive commercial soy, rice, or nut milk, you could make you the purchase price in less than 3 months!