Review: a2 Milk

For my regular readers you know one of the things I like experimenting with in the kitchen is making dairy-free versions of recipes I love. It’s not only because I have a dear friend who’s lactose intolerant, but also because I’ve had periods in my life where dairy has seemed to have been a contributing factor to horrible eczema.

Cutting out dairy products during those periods was incredibly difficult for me.  I love dairy! I love milk, I love cheese (the smellier the better!), I love yogurt, I love ice cream…

My Aussie grandparents had a house cow. ‘What’s a house cow?’ you might be asking. Well it’s when you don’t live on a farm, but have enough backyard for a ‘pet’ cow who keeps you supplied with milk! Because of my grandma and her love of dairy, I can’t eat cornflakes. This is because, as a very little girl, she got be used to eating cornflakes not with milk but with cream! I’d happily munch through a bowl of cornflakes and cream now, but it’s not the healthiest start to the day.

Anyway, I love dairy and, perhaps unsurprisingly, I’ve married a man who loves dairy too. We get through 12 pints of milk a week (I think that’s almost 7 litres)!!! But hubby complains of bloating and I’ve also started noticing my tummy going from a reasonable size on waking up to being much bigger after even a small breakfast.

Enter the absolutely lovely Lindsay who hand-delivered some a2 Milk for us to try.

A2 milk was actually introduced in Australia many years ago (here in the UK we’re a bit behind when it comes to allergy-friendly products) and many people swear by it. People say it’s cleared up allergic rashes, stopped bloating and even improved behaviour in children. But what is A2 milk you ask?

To put it simply, cows’ milk contains protein. There are two differents types of protein (A1 and A2). Interestingly all cows used to only produce A2 protein until a naturally-occurring genetic mutation in European cows changed the genetics, making A1 cows the predominant ones in European and UK herds.

The A2 protein is supposedly easier to digest. So it’s possible that for people who have a physical reaction from drinking milk (not those who’ve been medically diagnosed as lactose intolerant), may simply be reacting to the A1 protein in regular milk rather than the lactose.

Let me make that clear again, a2 Milk is not suitable for people with a cows’ milk allergy, galactosaemia or a diagnosed lactose intolerance.

Hubby and I drank a2 Milk for 5 days (and I also bought some more to use in cooking). While hubby said he didn’t notice any difference in his usual bloating, I believe I did notice a little reduction. The thing I noticed more though was the taste. We normally drink semi-skimmed milk and the semi-skimmed a2 Milk tasted far less watery and closer to whole milk. Cooking with the a2 Milk was no different to cooking with normal milk (well it is milk after all!).

Price-wise at £1.99 for 2 litres, a2 Milk is more expensive than the supermarket brands, but is similar to Cravendale and some branded organic milk, and cheaper than Lactofree.

I’m not sure if I’ll keep buying a2 Milk, but at least now in the UK we’re getting more choice. I think that’s the best thing about a2 Milk, giving people a choice and allowing some who’ve been affected by milk in the past to get back to enjoying dairy once again.

a2 Milk (whole or semi-skimmed) is available to buy at Morrisons, Tesco, Waitrose and Ocado and is normally priced at £1.99 for 2 litres (the only size available at the moment).

Find out more information about a2 Milk on their website.

Disclosure: I was given a2 Milk to try for the purposes of this review. My opinions are honest and my own.