Fortified plant based milks! Does your child need a fortified non-dairy milk? If so, which one should you choose for babe and why? Here’s what you need to know about fortified vegan milk.
What is Fortification?
When introducing a plant milk to your child, we recommend prioritizing a fortified soy milk or pea milk.
But what does “fortification” mean?
Fortified foods have nutrients added to them that are not otherwise naturally-occurring in that food (or beverage).
For example, both cow’s milk and many plant based milks are fortified with vitamin D.
This is done to help boost vitamin and mineral intake with foods that most of us already eat every day, like a plant milk for kids.
Why Choose a Fortified Plant Milk
We also know that you can get all the calcium you need on a whole foods plant-based diet, but that may be a little bit harder with smaller infant and toddler stomachs – and the selective eating phases that are common in this age range.
So, we think that a fortified plant based milk with both added calcium and vitamin D is a really good way to ensure that your child is getting all of these essential nutrients.
Note that you most likely won’t see the term “fortified” printed on the front of the milk carton, though.
Instead, you’ll want to turn over the packaging and take a look at the ingredient list or nutrition facts panel to see exactly what’s been added to it.
Many plant based milks will fortify with extra calcium and vitamin D, while some will also add nutrients like vitamin A, vitamin B12, and the omega-3 fatty acid DHA.
Does Your Baby Need a Fortified Plant Milk?
Depending on your child’s diet, they may not need a fortified milk. In other words, an unfortified plant milk may be just fine.
If you’re not sure how much calcium your child is getting in a day, we suggest tracking his or her nutrient intake for a few days to get a better idea.
You can do this by writing down the amounts of foods and beverages that are eaten and either manually adding up the amount of calcium in those servings OR using a free online calculator like Cronometer.
This can be done with other nutrients, too.
Having this baseline can help you decide how important it is to provide your babe a fortified milk.
Remember that not everyday is perfect, especially with pickier eaters. The average matters more than individual days, as nutrition is a long game.
A Note About Pea Milk Fortification in Canada
The pea milk brand Ripple is fortified in the United States with the nutrients discussed above.
However, we learned that this product is not currently fortified with calcium or vitamins A, D, and B12 in Canada.
Fortification regulations in Canada require that plant milks either contain every vitamin and mineral naturally present in cow’s milk, or have none at all.
Ripple made the decision to proceed without these fortifications due to specific manufacturing and distribution challenges at the time.
They have stated that they will continue monitoring these rules in Canada and potentially make changes in the future.
If you’re a parent in Canada looking for fortified pea milk, note that you may want to choose a fortified soy milk instead.
Fortified plant based milks are a great way to help your babe meet his or her nutrient needs for vitamins and minerals. Fortified non-dairy milks can pair well with meals and even be used in cooking and baking. And luckily there are plenty of fortified vegan milks to choose from. We recommend fortified soy milk or pea milk for kids.
Chime In: Does your baby drink fortified plant based milks? Which one(s) do you like most in your family?
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My pediatrician was concerned or questioning the bioavailability of the calcium, vitamins and minerals in a fortified plant based milk. Have you come across any research or data on this?
Thank u!
Hi Lauren! The only research we’ve seen is with calcium, and absorption rates are similar to cow’s milk as fortified milks. Vitamin D/A is also added to cow’s milk, but I’m not aware of any absorption differences.
Our pediatrician’s main concern, and what I see raised in most publications, is the issue of fat content, which is important in brain development. Whole cow milk, the default recommendation, has about 8g of fat per serving. There are some varieties of oat milk that approach that level, but they’re lacking in protein. We finally settled on Silk brand’s “Protein Milk” (unsweetened plain or vanilla), which is a blend of cashew, almond, and pea. It has 7g of fat per serving and 10g of protein, plus the usual fortifications. It’s the only plant milk I’ve come across so far that hits the fat + protein sweet spot. Wondering if you could share your thoughts on fat content in plant milks. Thanks.
Hi Bryan; yes, we agree about the fat content. Toddlers need ~35% calories from fat, which is why we try and encourage fat consumption from veggies/grains/other foods cooked in oil, avocado, nuts, seeds, etc. Most plant-milks that we recommend (soy/pea or the kind like the blends you mention) ~5g fat per serving, which is lower than that of whole cow’s milk. It’s also one of the reason that we don’t recommend more then 16 ounces of milk/plant-milk per day so that babe’s don’t become full on milk and not get in other essential nutrients, like fat.
This is a great product suggestion! But it does come up short on vitamin D. Wondering how you overcome that? Just with the same vitamin D drops that infants get?
We do give additional D drops as plant-based milk (and even cows milk) doesn’t contain all of the Vitamin D unless you are giving more than the recommended limit of 16 ounces/day.
Do you have brand suggestions for fortified soy milk you could share?
Yes, we both usually purchase the 365 unsweetened brand from Whole Foods. The Silk line is also fortified. Most of the refrigerated milks are fortified, though the content varies widely! For example, I believe the last time I checked the Trader Joe’s unsweetened version didn’t have much vitamin D and less calcium than Silk or Whole Foods.
Do toddlers NEED milk beyond breast milk? My 12 month old still nurses 4-6x/day with no signs of stopping (and eats plenty of food).
Toddlers don’t NEED any milk of any kind– but they do need nutrients like calcium, protein, fat, vitamin D, etc. Breastmilk is amazing and our #1 choice– but we know not every relationship continues beyond 12 months. After weaning, fortified non-dairy milks offer a source of calcium that can be harder to find in foods that toddlers will eat enough of.
Is breastmilk a good source of calcium or no? My baby is also 12MO and still nursing – this was one question I had for my pediatrician since I was wanting to know if he would need to get all of his calcium from food sources (started giving soy milk, yogurt with a lot of calcium). She seemed to say breastmilk wasn’t a good source of calcium but also not to really know..
There is calcium in breastmilk! The exact amount will vary from mother to mother; depending on how much your baby is drinking, we’d also recommend focusing on calcium in food sources alongside breastmilk.
Thank you! He still nurses a lot and isn’t that interested in soy milk- prefers water. i give him Soy Delicious brand yogurt which is high in calcium, but he can only eat so much yogurt. I try to make more and more things that include soy milk or yogurt in the ingredients and he gets almond butter, tahini, flaxseed, veggies high in calcium- but with how much he’s able to eat it seems almost impossible to get to 700mg/day without him being interested in the soy milk.
Hi guys, so after reading this I looked at my bottle of Ripple (made in Canada) and it listed the vitamins and calcium on the bottle that you say has been omitted. Can you clarify? I’m confused. Thanks very much!
Interesting! We aren’t based in Canada, but a fellow dietitian tipped us off that Ripple wasn’t fortified in Canada and this is the email from their company: “When we launched in Canada in 2016 we learned that we are not allowed to fortify the product with Vitamin A, Vitamin D, Calcium (and now, B12) as we do in the US. Canada regulations require that dairy alternatives such as ours contain every vitamin and mineral that is present naturally in dairy milk, or have none at all. We considered meeting the requirement, but the inclusion of Riboflavin, which is light sensitive, would have necessitated changing our packaging too. Ripple does not own our own facilities. The challenge of finding a manufacturer equipped to make our product, using packaging suitable for Canada products as well as the US, and still geographically positioned to meet our distribution needs was daunting. In the end we decided to proceed without the fortifications.
We continue to monitor the Canadian regulations, and if the rules lighten, we will certainly consider the fortification of Canada Ripple Milk to match that of the US.
Thank you again for your interest in Ripple and for your contact. I hope the above is helpful. ”
If the milk has it– awesome! This email was from last month, October 2020.
I had no idea Ripple wasn’t fortified in Canada!! This is such valuable news for us as it’s the only milk our son drinks. I’ve been trying since weaning to encourage him to drink others (soy, cow) but now I know I need to ramp up my efforts. He does eat yogurt and cheese but I don’t think he’s getting enough of those to meet his calcium intake. Thank you!
Lisa, have you read the Ripple bottle? The bottle I have (made in Canada – I live in PA) lists all those vitamins, minerals. I’m sort of confused.
If you are in the USA then it should be fortified, even if it’s made in Canada. I don’t know whether things have changed; all I have is the email from Ripple. I’d love to get to the bottom of this so we can clarify for our international readers! I’ll reach out to Ripple again. 🙂
Thanks!
I have a bottle in my fridge right now and, sure enough, all the vitamins and minerals are listed as 0’s. So disappointing! We lived in the US earlier this year and always bought Ripple so didn’t even think to look at the label when we got to Canada 🙁
Yes, unfortunately most countries don’t fortify. The EU also has different standards than the US. I know it’s frustrating! We are currently working on partnering with other RDs in various countries to come up with different recommendations depending on where you are based.
We have given our twins fortified oat milk but I know that the protein content is fairly low. However, they do get protein from many other foods during the day. They have liked it a lot so far. Tried pea milk and soy milk and they wouldn’t drink it!
As long as they are getting nutrients from other foods– it’s OK! The big thing we want to stress with milk/non-dairy milk is that many toddlers fill up on milk and don’t have room for other nutrient-dense foods. It’s the big reason we aren’t fans of almond milk as it’s fairly low in most nutrients and for smaller appetites, that means that other nutrients can become displaced. We aim for no more than 16 ounces of non-dairy milk/milk to allow for other foods.
What are your thoughts on the new ‘Not-Milk’ line that recently came out?
I haven’t tried it yet so not sure on taste– only downside is that it does contain 3g of added sugar, which we’d want to minimize for those under 2. Love that it’s made from pea protein, and fortified with calcium, D and B12.
Hi,
I have started giving ripple (in the US) to my one year old, but noticed that it has 100% B12 fort one cup. I am also giving my child a multivitamin that contains 100% B12. I know B12 sould be eliminated through urine, but I am concerned if I am giving too much B12. Other plant based milk seem to be only 50% B12 per cup.
Hi Gabriele– if babe is getting 2.6mcg from multivitamin and 2.4-2.6mcg in a cup of milk it’s OK. Not a concern at those levels, especially being water soluble.
Any suggestions on fortifying homemade soy milk??? Or if its needed?
Hi Ali! Yes, if you are doing homemade soy milk then we would recommend adding in some calcium carbonate powder. You will need to shake it well before serving. We’d also recommend continuing vitamin D drops.
Hi PBJ! I have a 10 month year old who is 95% plant based and with a soy allergy!
I’m finding most pea milks are high in salt? One of the two types I could potentially get hold of in Europe (hardly any to choose from) have 200mg of salt per 100ml – so with around 500ml of milk per day that would already take him up to half of his RDA of salt. We don’t use salt in anything when we cook for him but I guess he is already getting sodium in veg etc too?
Looks like cow milk is also pretty high in salt, which makes pea milk then not look like such a bad option.
If all else fails should I consider a pea protein toddler formula?
Hi Joe, it is curious how some nondairy milks are higher in salt. 1 cup of cows milk is usually around 100mg sodium/cup, which would be a bit lower than this pea option. Also assuming you are talking about after 12 months as we wouldn’t recommend either pea protein or cow’s milk before 12 months of age. A toddler formula could be OK, but our concern about toddler formulas is that they are expensive and sometimes too filling/can displace other calories if too much is consumed.
Hi Alexandra and Whitney. I have a 2 years old toddler who refuses any kind of milk other than breast milk. Can you please give some advice on how to give plant based milk on a daily basis. I tried giving her soy milk in a small cup but she refuses it all the time.
Hi Divya, We know it can be hard– especially if your babe loves breastmilk. We’d keep offering it, and possibly mix it with breastmilk to fade to offer or consider other ways to offer it, like in a smoothie or cooked in food to help with acceptance.
What brand/option of milk are those of you in Canada using?
Is Silk in Canada?