Pea milk

Before commercial production of ‘milks’ from legumes, beans and nuts, plant-based mixtures that are supposed to resemble milk have existed for thousands of years[5]. These ‘milks’ aim to contain the same proteins, vitamins and lipids as those produced by lactating mammals[5].

Plant-based milks in a supermarket shelf

Lactose intolerance by region in 2011

Plant based milks have emerged as an alternative to dairy to consumers in response to dietary needs and also due to the recent popularity of environmentally friendly products[5], especially over the last decade[12]. The plant based milk industry in the USA is worth $1.8 billion per annum[5]. In 2018 the value of ‘dairy alternatives’ was said to be $8 billion[13]. It was also published in Huffington Post that due to health and environmental reasons, as well as changing consumer trends more individuals are purchasing a non-dairy alternative to milk[14]. In Australia, there is decreased confidence within the dairy industry with only 53% being optimistic in the future profitability and demand for dairy products as per a Dairy Australia report[15].

Only 73% percent of young people in the UK aged between 16-24 drink dairy cow’s milk, in comparison to 94% in 1974[16]. A main dietary reason for the increase in popularity of plant-based milks such as pea milks is lactose intolerance, for example the most common food that causes intolerance in Australia is lactose and affects 4.5% of the population[9]. In the United States, around 40 million people are lactose intolerant[17]. Another dietary trend that has emerged is an intake of increased protein, and pea protein powders have also been released to meet this demand[10]. Pea milk is also a suitable product for soy allergies[18].

A scientific journal article argued that plant milk companies send the message that plant milks are ‘good and wholesome’ and dairy milk as ‘bad for the environment’, and the article also reported that an increasing amount of young people associate dairy with environmental damage[12].  There has been an increased concern that dairy production results in negative impacts for biodiversity, water and land use[12]. These negative links between dairy and the environment has also been communicated through audiovisual material against dairy production, such as ‘Cowspiracy’ and ‘What the Health’[12]. Animal welfare concerns have also contributed to the declining popularity of dairy milk in countries such as US and UK[12].

Pea Milk was introduced in the United Kingdom retail market by the brand Mighty Society[4], and in Australia by the Freedom Foods Group[15]. It was introduced in the USA Whole Foods Markets in 2015 by Ripple[1]. By 2018 pea milk was available in more than 10,000 stores in the USA such as Kroger and Target[13]. Other brands of available pea milk in North America include Silk[13], Veggemo[18] and Suja[18].

Plant milk is made through crushing of the plant substance and extracting its liquid.[5] Like Milk, which is a pea milk product available in Australia, is made through a process of soaking yellow split peas and blending with water.[9] Pea milks are fortified, which is the addition of vitamin D2 and B12 to the milk.[4]

Plant - based milks

Non-commercial pea milk may be prepared by individuals using peas, water, vanilla extract and dates[10].

As per research, plant-based milk alternatives' taste can be improved by fermentation[5] and can increase the levels of Vitamin Bs and protein.[5] This research has also predicted that fermentation will emerge as an important trend as the plant-based milk market grows.[5]

Using RDI (Reference Daily Intake) as a measurement, commercially available Pea Milk in the USA contains 13% of potassium, 10% of Vitamin A, 30% of Vitamin D, 15% of Iron, along with 4.5 grams of fat and 290 kilojoules (70 kilocalories) per 240 millilitres (8 US fl oz) (unsweetened, original flavour).[10]

Pea milk also contains Vitamin B3,6, B12, calcium and Cys Met which is a form of protein[5].  Peas also contain high levels of starch, fibre and protein and are inexpensive to fractionate[7]. Some types of pea milk contain algal oil, which contains omega- 3 fatty acids[13], and a pea milk company in the USA has stated that pressure, salt and temperature are used in their laboratories to ensure that the plant proteins are present in the product without the plant – like pea taste[13].

The Australian version of pea milk has zero sugar per cup in the original version, the same level of protein and calcium but less sugar than dairy milk[9]. The 'original' flavoured versions of American pea milk has half the sugar of 2% dairy milk.[19]

Vitamin D2

According to Dr Sonja Kukuljan, nine essential amino acids are present in pea milk.[9] Another dietitian, Alexia Beauregard, has stated that plant proteins in general have fewer amino acids than meat and eggs[13]. An independent Australian dietitian has stated that the soy milk fortified with calcium would be a more nutritionally balanced alternative to pea milk[15].

The Australian version of pea milk is described to have an off-white colour and is high in omega-6 fats.[9] Business Insider Australia also described an American brand of pea milk to have a savoury aftertaste, vegetable like quality and a thick consistency[19].The UK product version of pea milk is also not green in colour and has a creamy quality.[4] It has also been observed in the American versions that pea milk is "creamy" and the original unsweetened pea milk has a "pea-like" flavour.[17] Furthermore, it has been described that in the unsweetened pea milk flavours the savoury legume flavour is more apparent than the sweetened flavours such as vanilla and chocolate.[17] The thick creamy consistency and levels of omega-6 fatty acids can be attributed to the presence of sunflower oil in pea milk.[10]

The chocolate flavoured pea milk has 12 g of protein[17], 8 g more protein than coconut milk and a lower amount of saturated fat in comparison to coconut milk.[17] Reviewers have also stated that it is thicker compared to other watery plant based milks such as soy milk and almond milk,[17] and the chocolate flavoured pea milk was described as 'melted down ice-cream' in taste.[17]

Scientific studies have stated that the key features of plant-based milks should be its taste and nutritional value,[5] and fortification may result in the avoidance of adding artificial products to improve their taste and sensory profile.[5]

Milk with pea proteins can be included in infant formula to improve its microbiological quality, which is to improve its probiotics and similarity to human breast milk.[6]

There have been experiments using pea protein mixtures as a protein milk replacer for calves.[8] Experiments have been conducted with Holstein calves to replace the protein from skim milk powder in their diets with pea protein concentrate – however the results indicated that newborn calves digested skim milk powder better than pea proteins.[8] . This experiment was done using three diets for newborn calves, the first mixture consisted of skim milk powder as the main form of protein, second mixture containing 8.25% pea protein and the last containing 16.25% pea protein[8].This research found that the calves were less able to digest fat when they were being fed the milk mixture with the largest amount of pea protein[8]. Another scientific source also identified that neo-natal calves have difficulty digesting non-milk-based proteins.[20]

Yellow pea crops in USA

There has been research in preparing yoghurt with milk enriched in pea proteins, and it was found that yoghurt prepared with 4% pea isolate with milk was conducive for probiotic strains to grow.[7] The research also revealed that strains of Lactobacillus, which is a type of probiotic, can grow in mixtures with milk and pea isolate. This mixture is not vegan as this research mixed cow milk with pea proteins to test probiotic strains growth.[7] According to researchers this strain has the nutritional advantages of both pea protein and probiotics.[7] The researchers' publication states that with a different strain of probiotic, Lactobacillus helveticus I, the additions of pea proteins resulted in a pea – like flavour.[7]

As per an independent writer, using the unsweetened vanilla pea milk in a fruit smoothie was similar to a milkshake taste and consistency[17] and that it provided a vanilla like flavour and creamy consistency in addition to coffee[17]. This writer has also stated that the unsweetened original flavours would be suitable for addition to savoury recipes, as they resulted in an unpleasant savoury taste in addition to coffee[17]. Another independent Australian writer has stated that the addition of pea milk is not feasible in hot drinks such as coffee as it results in separation[21], and that pea milk can be used for a pancake batter due to its thick consistency[21] and can be used in smoothies[21].

Calves

This alternative to milk has been gaining attention due to perceived benefits that it is ecologically sustainable.[1] It requires 100 times less water to produce than almond milk, and 25 times less water than dairy milk.[4] Another source has stated that the pea crops require six times less water than almond crops.[13] The growing of pea crops also result in nitrogen levels in the soil and does not require extensive irrigation.[13] Overall, the production of peas does not require the same level of water, nitrogen fertilisers and emissions of greenhouse gases as producing dairy milk[14]. In this same article, it was published that a director at the Natural Resources Defence Council has identified that any plant milk alternative is more environmentally sustainable than dairy milk[14]. In comparison to other dairy- free alternatives, it is said that soy bean production results in more deforestation[14], coconuts grown in Asian regions require longer transportation hours to reach the supermarket shelves where they are sold[14] and almond trees create an environmental burden in the water scarce regions, such as California, that they are grown in[14]. A biomedical engineer has stated that the dairy industry contributes to 25% of the total emissions of the food industry as a whole.[13] Producing 1 kg of milk requires 1.1–2 square kilometres of land.[22] It was also observed in another scientific journal that milk and eggs require less land than productions of meats such as meat and pork.[22] This journal article also found that beef production, compared to other meats typically consumed in OECD countries, used the largest amount of land, and the usage of these resources can also be attributed to dairy farms and the milk production from the mother of the calves[22].

Yellow split pea that is used in the production of pea milk

There will be more nutritionally balanced plant milk available in the future as per academic research,[5] because plant-based milks offer only limited nutritional benefits to humans and have a different taste in comparison to cow milk[5].This research has also stated that fermentation is a significant opportunity for growing the plant-based milk market, as they can enhance the nutrition in the product[5]. Sweetened and flavoured milks have a different nutritional profile with higher added sugars, as per Nussinow, a dietitian[14]. This has also been stated in another news website, in reference to chocolate flavoured pea milk, that it contains 17 teaspoons of sugar[10].

Dr Hazel Wallace recommends cow milk for iodine, protein and calcium compared to plant-based milks.[4] Plant based milks are marketed to have nutritional and health benefits however this is done because of the less naturally beneficial nutritional profile compared to cow's milk.[12] For example, pea milk is marketed to be high in protein, and has the same amount of protein per cup, 8g, as dairy milk and soy milk.[4] Other types of plant milk often have an even lower level of protein when compared to animal milks.[5] About half of plant-based milks have no protein or a negligible amount of protein.[5] For example, almond milk has 1g of protein per cup.[13]

Commercially available pea milk has omega-6 fatty acids, but people are already consuming this in their diets and the impacts of excessive omega-6 fatty acid consumption is increased risk of developing a chronic disease.[10] Examples include diabetes, heart disease and obesity.[10]

Pea Milk is high in Vitamin D2, which is derived from plants, and dairy milk is composed of Vitamin D3, which is sourced from animals.[10] Consuming Vitamin D3 leads to increased levels of Vitamin D in the blood levels compared to Vitamin D2.[10]

In 2016 it was reported that Ripple foods shipped their yellow peas from France, attracting criticism that it has greenwashed customers,[11] however Ripple Foods responded stating that they were transported using cargo ships, rail and trucks[11]. Greenwashing is described by Business News Daily as a company exercising more efforts on environmentally friendly marketing rather than minimising its ecological impact.[23] It has also been said in other mainstream news articles that there is no independent assessment available of the full environmental impact of pea milk[14].

Soy milk

Almond milk