Oatly Milk Update

[Agoodenough]

Thank you to Edward_H for the reply to the Oatly Milk post from yesterday. So everyone is clear and can read the information and make up their own mind.

(Here's Oatly's response to the post)

"I’d love to clear a few things up about that blog post, as it contains some misinformation and speculation about our ingredients.

First, regarding sugar - the author is correct about our production process (we’re very proud of it and transparent about it!). We use natural enzymes to liquefy our oats, as this process enables us to make a super creamy oatmilk that retains much of the goodness from the oats, like carbs, protein, unsaturated fat and soluble fiber (beta glucan). As part of this process, the enzymes convert some of the starch in the oats into sugar, similar to how the human body converts starch to sugar during digestion. Since these sugars are a result of our production process, the FDA considers them to be added, which is why they’re labeled as “added” sugars on our nutrition panels. Sugar is found in lots of foods, including cow’s milk. Our non-flavored oatmilks contain 7g sugar per 8oz serving, which is less than the amount of sugar in cow's milk.

We haven’t tested the GI or GL levels of our oatmilks. However, while maltose is the main sugar found in Oatly, the GI of pure maltose can't be assumed to be the same as that of our oatmilk given our oatmilk's fiber, fat and protein content, all of which affect the GI value and make oatmilk more of a liquid food. It’s also worth noting that a person’s whole diet should be considered when looking at glycemic effect, as people usually eat a few different (if not many different) foods at the same time, all of which come into play (for example, most people tend to consume oatmilk with a little coffee or tea, or with cereal, in a smoothie, etc.).

Next, regarding rapeseed oil - we specifically chose rapeseed/canola oil for our products due to its great nutritional profile (low in saturated fats, rich in unsaturated fats, and higher in omega-3 fatty acids than most other oils). Contrary to what the author notes, the oil we use actually has a trans fat content of less than 0.1g/100g, and we only use non-GMO, expeller pressed rapeseed oil. We’ve been using this type of oil in our products for over two decades over in Sweden, where non-GMO rapeseed oil is a common feature in Nordic diets.

Regarding phosphates and nutrition, phosphorus (along with other nutrients like calcium) is needed for the maintenance of normal bones and teeth. The author of the blog post may be interested to know that recent new advice on phosphates issued by the European Food Safety Authority stated that phosphates are essential nutrients--and it considered both naturally occurring phosphorus from food as well as phosphorus from food additives as phosphates. The main food categories contributing to phosphates were milk, bread and meat, and our oatmilk actually has a phosphorus content on par with that of cow’s milk as a result of our added dipotassium and calcium phosphates. With all this said, it’s the total amount of phosphate/phosphorus in a diet that counts most, not the source of the phosphorus.

Finally, regarding vitamin D, the author is correct that we use D2 because it’s a vegan-friendly source of the vitamin, which is crucial to our products. However, the Swedish Food Agency has stated that D2 and D3 are equally efficacious”