Hello all,
I am new to these forums, but have enjoyed reading all of the posts, very very helpful to me. I am BF my daughter Abby, and have found, I think, that dairy causes her to have pain, and I also think aggravates her reflux. So, today I went and got some coconut sorbet, to make up for no ice cream! But, then I looked at the ingredients and it says coconut cream. Do you think this would fall under dairy? I know, probably stupid question, but when it's a matter of her screaming all night, I don't want to take any chances!
Thanks for any thoughts on this..

I really don't know for sure but I would say no, cause most dairy/milk intolerances and reactions are a result from the protein in it. This would not be in the coconut cream, but sometimes fat can aggrevate reflux (like dairy can be high fat) if she is getting pain from the fat content say then she may get it from the coconut cream. Does anyone know for sure?

I don't know about the sorbet, but I do use coconut milk in cooking quite frequently. I do know that it consists of coconut and guar gum to thicken.

To my knowledge, coconut cream doesn't contain dairy; however, I'll do a search and find out for sure.

Here's an interesting link: http://www.thaifoodandtravel.com/ingredients/cocmilk.html

It says that coconut cream is actually the "milk" produced when the flesh of the coconut is pressed (not the coconut juice that's naturally rolling around in the coconut when you open it.)

I learned something today...thanks for posting! :iconbigg:

Mary...I Love the new sig PIC...

Unless it lists dairy, it's not. Coconut (according to the no nuts policy at my son's school) is actually part of the nut family, therefore it can be highly allergenic. I would definitely NOT introduce it to a child under the age of 2 years.

Glad you mentioned that, Janette. I had no idea coconut was part of the nut family/a potential allergen. :-)

Coconut is not a nut, it's a seed I believe. There are peanuts which are legumes and tree nuts which are things like pecans and walnuts. While yes, seeds themselves acn be more allergenic as well, it's NOT a nut. :) It's listed on this chart as something not to intro till 24 mos, but that's generally for high risk children. http://www.hallpublications.com/title2_sample2.html To the original question, no it's not dairy. It makes a great high fat sub though for milk in cooked pudding (which is milk free from Jell-O).

Jennifer,

I was simply stating what the school considers coconut to be for the sake of allergies. My point was that it is not safe to give nuts or coconut to a child under the age of 2 years in case of an allergic reaction. The 24-month guideline is for all children...36 months for those who run a higher risk of being allergic. The coconut is part of the palm family. The Armenian word for it is "Indian nut". The botanical species name nucifera is a neo-Latin formation meaning "bearing nuts". The "coco" part of the word comes from Spanish "coco" "specture, goblin" with reference to the 3 marks on each coconut which make it look like an eerie face. Anyway, it looks like many languages do consider it to be a nut even if it isn't. I personally am less concerned with whether or not it is a nut or a seed, but rather with the fact that it is a known allergen and is also not a suitable substitution for formula an infant or milk for a young child.

Wow--thanks for all the info, Janette! Are there any other potential allergens, besides the ones we routinely hear about, that should also be added to the list?

Have you posted the allergy list your school gave here at IRD? If not, I'd love to see it.

Very interesting indeed. Thanks for the info ladies ;)

Wow--thanks for all the info, Janette! Are there any other potential allergens, besides the ones we routinely hear about, that should also be added to the list?

Have you posted the allergy list your school gave here at IRD? If not, I'd love to see it.
No, I haven't posted the list here b/c it's pretty specific for those with known allergies. We have to throughly read the ingredients on everything before sending things to school. There cannot be anything that was manufactured in a factory that handles nuts or nut products, and hydrolysed vegetable protein, hydrolysed plant protein, almond flavour (pure or artificial), and coconut are definite no-nos at the school b/c of the allergies of the kids present. We can't send anything that has been bought bulk either. There isn't anyone with nut allergies in my son's class this year, but he does have a couple of friends who are anaphalactic so we try to be extra cautious. The scary thing is that the oils when transferred to something (such as a desk) can last for as long as 6 months, that why the school is so cautious. Heck...If it were my child, I'd want them to be that careful too.

Looks like they've their a$$es pretty well covered! ;)

Oh yeah! Big time...and in more ways than one! ;)

Wow, this has been very educational!