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Comment by nikolay | Hacker News Reader

First, it's not "milk" only because it's a white liquid. Second, if people are so grossed out by milk, why do they want to drink surrogates of it?! I understand that there are lactose intolerant people, too, but I'm not talking about them if it's unclear. I've seen lactose-free milk at stores recently.

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People are obviously not grossed out because it's called milk or because it's a white liquid. They're grossed out because of how the animals are treated. Or because they think diary production is principally wrong. Or maybe they just don't like the thought of drinking animal milk. Or simply don't quite like the taste. Maybe they're milk protein intolerant.

Or they're not grossed out at all. They just make the rational decision to not consume dairy because of the water, energy and food consumption of the dairy/meat industry. Or because of the greenhouse gas emissions.

What are you saying, if you don't want to contribute to the things mentioned above, you shouldn't be allowed to drink anything that remotely resembles cow milk?

> First, it's not "milk" only because it's a white liquid

That's exactly why it's milk actually. Just like coconut milk, which has existed forever, milk of magnesia which has existed since 1875, and soy milk which has been widely consumed since the 1800s.

Oat milk is not milk. But it's milk. English has no problem with that. Pizza pie is not pie. Boot camp is not camp. A house boat is not a boat. We understand each other just fine. You add a word to another word and you get a third word that's unique from both of its parts.

Yeah, but this degrades the value of milk proper. I personally prefer vegan "milk" to be called "schmilk" or "unmilk". ;)

Actually the EU recently ruled that "Plant-based foods cannot be sold in the European Union using terms such as milk, butter and cheese". There are some exceptions though. See http://www.bbc.com/news/business-40274645

There's a similar push happening in Australia.

BTW, I think pizza is only called 'pizza pie' in the US? And a house boat is definitely a boat if it floats.

True about the EU ruling, but legal language is often different than more informal everyday language. Obviously the Court of Justice did not rule that you are forbidden from using the word "milk" when speaking to your friends about soy milk :-)

> Second, if people are so grossed out by milk, why do they want to drink surrogates of it?!

I can't explain it, but milk is just gross to me. I eat almost every other dairy product (okay, I'm not a fan of something too fermented, like kefir, ayran and such), but plain milk is psychologically repulsive. Maybe it's because my grandma had a cow when I was a child, and seeing milk come out of a cow was disgusting. Processed dairy products are kind of too far removed from a cow in my mind, so they're okay. Maybe it's the smell of country milk. I don't like homemade country cheeses because of the smell as well. For this reason I love oatly, and almond and coconut milks. Soy milk is fine too. I can also dring flavored milks or coffee with milk (although I prefer it black). I've only met one other person like this in my life, and it felt very validating that I'm not alone in this.

Languages change all the time, adding or removing meanings from words isn't that remarkable.

As for why, it's the same reason people make substitutes for a lot of things. I have coeliac disease and cannot eat any gluten-containing bread, so I make substitutes using various gums and binders to replace the gluten. Even though it isn't the same as a gluten-containing bread it's still useful.

Same goes for alternative milks. An emulsion of fats and water is a useful substance even if it doesn't come from an animal. It binds tannins in tea and coffee and has a nicer mouth-feel than plain water in breakfast cereals.

I thought lactose intolerance is the main reason why people skip animal milk. The OP mentions that this farmer is going for oat milk for environmental reasons.

Not sure what the original etymology of "Milk" but it seems to have evolved from just referring to mammary liquids to liquids of a smooth, translucent or opaque consistency, e.g. Milk of Magnesia.

I always use dairy milk for coffee and found it odd why people would use soy or almond milk. I guess both have fat; do plant fats react to coffee in the same way that dairy fats do?

I've tried milk alternatives in coffee during Lent, and they all sucked - I'd rather have black coffee than coffee with those surrogates. Not to mention that most milk alternatives have carrageenan, which is a questionable substance, although this is changing as it can no longer be used in Certified Organic products.

I've heard a lot of recent Oatley converts say the same and they insist that while the Oatley "i Kaffe" product takes some geeting used to, it does taste better with coffee that regular milk does. So maybe this company has figured something out?

Lactose free milk has been available for a long time, I drank it 20 years ago. It is hyperpasteurized though, which is kind of gross.

Anyway, I pour almond milk on cereal because I like cereal. It probably wouldn't be great on fruit loops, but it works nicely with granola and other nut based cereals.

Can't lactase be added to milk to make it lactose-free without having to pay a premium and without having a limited choice?

Yep, we have it in Australia (the biggest brand name is 'Zymil'). It tastes pretty close to normal milk, but is slightly sweeter.

>First, it's not "milk" only because it's a white liquid.

A good discussion about this: https://cooking.stackexchange.com/a/76006

One of the most significant causes of global warming is milk and beef production, that's the strongest reason to stop using dairy products if you care about what happens to future generations. Treatment of animals is another.

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