Vegan alternatives 鈥渟hould be offered as part of free milk scheme"
By Rachel Lawler
The Vegan Society has called for vegan milk alternatives to be offered alongside cow鈥檚 milk in early years settings.
Currently, children aged under five are entitled to receive 189ml of cow鈥檚 milk each day they are at a registered childcare provider for two or more hours. The government鈥檚 Nursery Milk Scheme pays for the milk.
Fortified plant milks
The Vegan Society has called for the Department of Health and Social Care to add fortified plant-based alternatives to cow鈥檚 milk to the scheme to cater for the growing number of vegan children in the UK.
Jeanette Rowley, legal advisor at the Vegan Society, said: 鈥淭he law regulating the provision of milk for young children is in urgent need of reform to recognise current scientific evidence on nutrition and a growing consumer trend away from dairy milks.鈥
The Vegan Society has also suggested that the current rules could be discriminatory. Rowley added: 鈥淧ublic authorities are under a general duty under the Equality Act 2010 to avoid discrimination. By limiting the Nursery Milk Scheme to only cow鈥檚 milk, the Department of Health is failing in that duty.鈥
Parent complaints
The charity says that 鈥渄ozens of parents鈥 have been in touch with them to complain about the lack of alternative milks offered in settings, which affects vegan children as well as those with dairy allergies. These parents must pay for their milk alternatives themselves.
Mark Banahan, campaigns manager at the Vegan Society, said: 鈥淰egan children are unfairly treated as they do not benefit from the current school health initiatives, which are designed to increase calcium intake for growing children.
鈥淭hey often miss out or have to rely on parents to provide their own plant milk, something that is not always possible for low-income families and causes a great deal of inconvenience to families who should be entitled to free milk alternatives.鈥
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