My daughter has recently been diagnosed as being lactose intolerant. Whilst this is not a serious condition, it really only affects her skin and causes her to eczema to break out , it is unpleasant. I've struggled to find an alternative to cow's milk which suits her and that she enjoys. We tried soya milk, which she also can not tolerate well. We have tried goat's milk, which she thought was terrible, rice milk, which she quite likes, but have found Oatly enriched with Calcium and added vitamins to be the best choice so far.

Oatly is a dairy free alternative to cow's milk and is made from, as the name suggests, pure oats. This 'milk' style drink is free from added sugar, is low in saturated fat and contains oat fibre. Oat fibre when eaten as part of a healthy diet can help to lower cholesterol levels. All good stuff in my opinion.

100ml of Oatly provides the following:

Energy 45 calories
Protein 1g
Carbohydrates 6.5g (of which 4g is sugar)
Fat 1.5g (of which 0.2g is saturated)
Fibre 0.8g
Sodium 0.04g
Vitamin D 10% of RDA
Riboflavin 10% of RDA
Folic Acid 10% RDA
Vitamin B12 20% RDA
Calcium 15% RDA

Ingredients:

Oat base (water, oats 10%)
Rapeseed oil
Salt
Calcium carbonate
Calcium phosphates
Vitamins (D, riboflavin, folic acid, B12)

It is always a concern when embarking on a milk free diet for children that they get enough calcium included from other sources. That is one of the main reasons in choosing Oatly. I'm confident that my daughter is getting plenty of calcium from including this in her diet.

On the carton it states that a 205ml glass of Oatly will provide 38% of the recommended daily allowance (RDA) of calcium, therefore 2.63 glasses would provide 100%.

My daughter enjoys this on her cereal, a chilled glass just on its own, well with a cookie or two. She also has this made into hot drinks such as hot chocolate. I've used this in my tea too.

It has quite a mild flavour, not creamy like milk, but quite pleasant non the less. It tastes just like oats mixed with semi skimmed milk, so would be a good choice if you would need to look at an alternative to regular milk.

This has a long shelf life and can be stored unrefridgerated until best before date. Once opened store in the fridge as you would milk. It must be used within 4-5 days.

I've not tried cooking with this product yet, so I'm unable to comment on how it performs in this area.

It costs £1.18 for a 1 litre container and is available from most supermarkets. However I have found that it sells out pretty quickly so I like to stock up when it's available.

Would I recommend this product? Yes definitely, for anyone looking to change from cow's milk, or is concerned with levels of cholesterol. It tastes nice, has a mild flavour not too dissimilar to skimmed milk and has added vitamins and calcium.