Someone with a dairy allergy can eat a wide variety of foods that do not contain milk or milk products. Safe foods include:
- Fruits and vegetables in fresh, frozen, or canned forms without added dairy.
- Meat, fish, poultry, and tofu prepared without milk or milk products.
- Breads and grains made without milk (e.g., French bread, rice, pasta, noodles).
- Eggs prepared without milk.
- Fats and oils like vegetable oil, lard, bacon fat, peanut butter (without milk solids), and margarine without milk solids.
- Sweets like corn syrup, honey, jam, jelly, and hard candies made without milk.
- Dairy substitutes such as soy milk, almond milk, oat milk, coconut milk, and others.
- Nuts, seeds, herbs, and certain condiments that do not contain dairy ingredients.
Foods to avoid include all milk, cheese, butter, cream, and products containing milk proteins such as casein, whey, and lactose. This includes many processed and baked products unless specifically labeled dairy-free. Thus, a dairy-allergic person can safely consume a mostly whole-food diet of fruits, vegetables, meats, grains, legumes, dairy-free substitutes, and many sweets and fats that are free from dairy ingredients.
