Instructions

1. Eliminate the obvious items. This means choosing to avoid the use of any type of dairy milk, butter products, creams, cheeses, and yogurt products.

2. Scan packaged foods for evidence that dairy products are used in contents. In some cases, this will be very obvious. For example, if a product lists dried milk powder as an ingredient, the packaged food does have a dairy product included.

3. Look for the less obvious. While many people can easily identify butter, cheese, and milk, not everyone recognizes such ingredients as lactose, whey, casein, or glucose as related to dairy products. Whey is found in many packaged crackers, cake mixes, and similar packaged foods. Casein is a thickening agent and may be found in packaged gravies, gelatins, and similar products.

4. Along with foods, check the vitamins. Not all types of supplements are free from dairy. However, there are a number of vitamin supplements on the market today that are identified as vegetarian.

5. Supply yourself with tasty alternatives to make the transition easy. Soy milk, rice milk, and almond milk are delicious alternatives. Check out their vanilla and chocolate flavors for extra flavor.