Nutritional value in dairy-free

[CAG]

Hi

My 4 year old daughter is allergic to dairy and the UK hospital allergy clinic we attended (we are now living in spain) was very busy and consequently very unhelpful with regards to what foods were okay, receipes etc. The nutritionist was not a lot of help either so I am still very much in the dark about the nutritional aspects of some of the "dairy free" foods that are available. A lot of them seem to contain hydrogenated oils, and other ingredients that I am not sure of such as lactic acid....can anyone shed some light on this aspect?
I just wonder if I am giving her the best possible diet given the restrictions.

Thanks. :unsure:

[linny]

Hi there, I had a free phone session with a nutritionalist and he told me that lactic acid has nothing to do with dairy. I was confused by it too! Supermarkets here have dairy free lists on the internet so it may be worth looking. This site has a good list under 'Non dairy foods'. Hope this is a help. Lin

[matt]

lactic acid can be obtained from other sources other than milk but you need to make sure where it's from.

have a look around your area for a supplier, health food shops? etc if not then there's the net, you should be able to find source of ingredients there. basically assume if it's processed in any way then it could have milk. ie crisps with flavours have milk, turkey sliced from shop for sandwiches has milk! it's a bulking agent.

it's a palaver but you get used to it. there are several books available with receipes and also on net or on this site. i'm sure between us all we can supply any receipe you want.

it gets easier