Malt Extract

[bubbles28]

Hi there, I was just wondering if anyone could tell me what MALT EXTRACT is? Iv'e seen it listed in many foods that iv'e wanted to buy for DS. My DS is allergic to dairy and Iv'e heard it is a form of dairy. Is this true? Thanks

[Chickadee]

A quick search brought up this from the Coeliac society in the UK:

Source: http://www.coeliac.co.uk/pdf/free_pub/Malt_Extract.pdf

Malt extract and malt extract flavourings are prepared from barley. They are widelyused in small amounts, in the food industry, as flavour enhancers. For example theyare, and always have been, contained in most brands of breakfast cereals, maltvinegars and many other branded manufactured products.

And this from a malt product producer (http://www.maltproducts.com/2maltfood.html)

Malt is the product obtained from germinated barley. Barley is first softened after cleaning by steeping with water and then allowed to germinate under controlled conditions. The germinated grain then undergoes the stages of drying, grinding, extracting, filtering, and evaporating, to produce Malt Extract with 78 to 80% solids content. Malt Syrup and Malt Extract are terms for the viscous concentrate of a water extract of germinated barley and/or other cereal grains.


So it would appear to be more of an issue for people with gluten allergies than dairy intolerance. And even for those with gluten, the document says most coeliacs can tolerate malt extract.

[Lunar]

My DD was also lactose intolerant, thankfully has grown out of it now, and she hated the taste of the milk with the malt extract in it. You can tell the difference because the milks with it are browny in colour and the ones that don't have it are basically white. It also seemed to curdle a bit in her tummy (she also had bad reflux and I could tell it was curdled...yuk!)
I think alot of the cheaper varieties have the malt extract in the milk, I'm not so sure about other products. I found Aldi's soy milk cheap and she loved it. Also coles brand soy milk the same price and no malt, where as woolworths home brand had the malt and she hated it. Basically trial and error to see which she prefers but as someone already posted it is not derived from dairy but from barley so it is very safe.
Good luck and pm me if you want or need anymore ideas about soy. There are some great recipe books out there too for cooking with soy - I found that you need different amounts of soy milk than cow's for cooking, otherwise you can make it too dry or too runny...IYKWIM?