Thousands of Almond Breeze milk cartons recalled for containing dairy

Only one allergic reaction has been reported so far

Blue Diamond almond breeze beverage tetra packs on sale in Canada (Roberto Machado Noa/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Vegans of the world might want to double-check their refrigerators: A major manufacturer just recalled more than 145,000 cartons of almond milk for containing actual dairy.

HP Hood, the manufacturer of Almond Breeze almond milk, recalled 145,254 half-gallon cartons of the milk alternative this week.

“Milk inadvertently was entered into the processing equipment for almond milk,” HP Hood spokeswoman Lynne Bohan told the Huffington Post.

The milk-containing milk-alternative was shipped to 28 US states, from New York to Oklahoma. The company says it is safe to drink, unless you have a dairy allergy.

Only one person has reported an allergic reaction stemming from the mix-up so far, according to a statement from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). No medical treatment was required.

The recall only applies to half-gallons of refrigerated Vanilla Almond Breeze almond milk with a use-by date of 2 September 2018. The affected products have a Universal Product Code of 41570 05621 printed on the side panel of the carton, next to the nutritional facts.

Those who bought the affected products can return them to the store where they were purchased for a full refund.

“We have done a comprehensive review into the situation and we’ve made corrective actions and made changes to our process to ensure that this will never happen again,” Ms Bohan said.

Almond milk – a beverage made of ground almonds, filtered water, and other flavourings – has soared in popularity in recent years, as consumers search for alternatives to traditional dairy. The almond milk market hit about $890m in US sales in 2015, according to Bloomberg. That’s far less than the $17.8bn traditional milk market, but enough to make dairy farmers nervous.

The FDA recently signalled it may prohibit dairy alternatives from being labelled as “milk” to prevent confusion. The change is a question of “standards of identity,” FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said at an event last month, adding that the agency’s current standards for milk reference products from lactating animals.

“An almond doesn’t lactate, I will confess,” Mr Gottlieb said at a Politico summit.