Veggy Malta tried out Rice & Rice non-dairy drink. The packaging avoids stating the word milk, probably for reasons similar to issues that passed from the French parliament recently.
Rice & Rice Drink by Probios is a non-dairy drink which surprise surprise is made from rice. To be precise it is certified Italian organic rice. What are the main elements of this milk alternative drink. The packaging calls out a number of them. Let’s start with the fact that it is gluten free (since it’s made from rice) and dairy free for whoever is dairy intolerant. Since this drink did not come from a cow, it is also vegan. No cholesterol and low salt at 0.1 g per 100 ml. Another key benefit in rice drink is that it is low in fat. Rice & Rice drink has a 14% content of rice.
An interesting point to make is that the rice used to make all Rice & Rice drinks are grown in Italy. Now this might sound a bit surprising as we usually associate rice paddy fields with Asia and not the Mediterranean. Yet Italy has a tradition of growing rice especially in the north. Rice had been introduced in Europe by Alexander the Great though it is thought to have arrived to Italy from Portugal in the Kingdom of Naples. [1] Today Italy is Europe’s greatest producer of rice.
There are 6 flavours of Rice & Rice dairy free drink: Natural, Almond, Calcium (fortified),Hazelnut, Cacao and Vanilla. I tried the Natural (Blue), Almond (Green) and Calcium (red). Maybe I should have added the vanilla (yellow) for political correctness 🙂 The natural and the calcium taste quite similar (blue and red)! The difference is coming from the addition of sea algae as a source of vegetable based calcium. On the other hand the almond has a slight nutty taste to it and in fact has 1.2% almond paste.
In what sizes is Rice & Rice non-dairy drink available?
Rice & Rice Drink is available in two size, 200 ml and 1 ltr.
6 comments
I use the natural most of the time yet sometimes I take the red one to boost the calcium intake.
I actually use Rice & Rice, and also other Probios products for some time now and I recommend them to others as well. Good range. It would be great of they can be found in more places.
It’s true the dairy industry is trying its best to attack anything that is threatening it. Even by trying to make legislation that tries to stop companies producing plant milk in calling it milk. It would be very unfair if the Eu apart from dishing out truckloads of our taxes to the dairy industry via CAP, also works to hinder the growth of alternative and healthy products like plant milk.
I have tried a number of vegan milk brands yet I never tried this one out. Although I am quite used to my regular drink I will give it a shot and try it out.
Where can these be purchased in Malta? Specialist stores, grocery stores, or only online?
These can be purchased from all leading supermarkets and healtshops.