Whether you're reducetarian, flexitarian, or just sensitive to lactose, finding ready meals without dairy can be a bit of a challenge. It's amazing how often dairy products are used in unexpected foods like sauces, salad dressings and even sausages.

Not everbody that is avoiding dairy or lactose is vegan. As many as 17% of Australians choose to limit dairy but will still consume other animal products. So even though vegan recipes don't use dairy, many people looking for dairy-free ready meals don't want to be limited to just vegan ready meals.

What Does 'No Added Dairy' Mean?

You might have seen some brands promoting no added dairy ready meals. This generally means that the ready meal in question has no dairy in the recipe, but the meal was made in a kitchen that contains dairy products. These meals may still contain dairy allergens so are carefully marketed. Always get more information from ready meal brands before selecting meals.

Dairy-Free vs Lactose-Free

Some ready meals are marketed as lactose-free and some are marketed as dairy-free, but you might be wondering is there is even a difference? In short dairy-free is always lactose-free, but lactose-free isn’t always dairy-free. Lactose is a type of sugar found in milk to which many people have a level of sensitivity. Dairy allergy on the other hand is less common but more serious. It's important to learn the differences before selecting ready meals.

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