5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
My standard milk aternative., July 3, 2007
This review is from: Rice Dream Rice Drink, Original, 8-Ounce Boxes (Pack of 27) (Grocery)
I have been drinking this brand for as long as it has been available. I enjoyed that I could order the 8oz boxes in bulk as the savings is enormous compared to what I might find locally, plus you can mostly buy vanilla flavor as a three pack, and I just find that too sweet. Great for travel and when you just need the Calcium dose, without the soy or dairy which I am allergic to.
Every morning, with so many diet restrictions, I look forward to a hot bowl of the rice milk, into which I add two gluten free cereals that I buy in bulk from Amazon.
Thank you Amazon for making this product available in the smaller quantities. I know in a week the family will be going away for a few days and I know longer have to think of taking the large container and worrying whether or not there is a refrigerator.
Is this taste delicious? I would say that it is a taste I have grown to love and that it feels good to have options that my health situation can tolerate.....this make it even more tasty!
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2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
8 oz boxes are great, but other rice beverages are healthier and tastier., October 20, 2010
This review is from: Rice Dream Rice Drink, Original, 8-Ounce Boxes (Pack of 27) (Grocery)
I used this product for many years. I favored Imagine for high quality ingredients, excellent flavor, reasonable price, and wide availability. I find milk and soy products cause digestive distress, rice beverages have no such effect, no cholesterol, very little fat, and taste great. I prefer the vanilla flavor for everyday drinking, chocolate for treats, and original for cooking, but the original is closest to milk flavor. The 8 oz boxes are perfect for taking along for lunch or infrequent use, since once opened the product does not last a really long time.
However, Imagine now uses the cheaper canola oil in their rice milk products. Canola oil contains erucic acid, a toxic chemical. The FDA has limited canola oil to no more than 2% erucic acid to protect our health, and do not allow it in infant formula. In addition, studies show the erucic acid it contains is toxic (see below). I have not been able to find any long term longitudinal controlled studies on humans to prove its safety as far as all the adversely affected organs.
Good Karma Whole Grains Ricemilk is organic and also canola and sugar free. It has a thicker, richer and creamier body and flavor, less watered down. The vanilla flavor is a delicious drink, it tastes more like fresh whole milk straight out of the cow (if you have had that) than what is sold in cartons in the US. Westsoy Rice Beverage has similar consistency to Rice Dream, but is canola free. I find it to be less sweet, less chalky, and more milk-like in flavor.
The same canola issue (as well as sugar) also applies to the Imagine frozen desert products.
Because there have been Internet rumors about Canola that are based on misinformation, I provide some citations of scientific papers and government publications. Studies on erucic acid in rats and piglets show heart lesions, decreased red blood cell count, and other tissue and organ damage. Erucic acid crosses the blood-brain barrier and is known to affect nerve cells. It's not safe for infants. Check out this small sample of government and peer-reviewed medical journal articles documenting my statements, available online. The claim that canola is not safe is controversial, and it is a multi-billion dollar industry. No controlled long-term longitudinal studies of human safety with respect to all these medical issues have been performed to my knowledge. If you have confidence in the US FDA safety standards after reading these references, it is a delicious drink!
United States Legislation on Low Erucic Acid Rapeseed Oil, Federal Department of Agriculture, 1985, article 184.1555, sections 3 and 4.
Growth Rate, Lipid Composition, Metabolism and Myocardial Lesions of Rats Fed Rapeseed Oils J. K. G. Kramer et al., The Journal of Nutrition, 103 (12):1696-1708, December 1973.
Dietary factors affecting the incidence of dietary fat-induced myocardial lesions. Clandinin MT, Yamashiro S., J Nutr. 1982 Apr;112(4):825-828.
Nutritional characteristics and food uses of vegetable oils, R.O. Vles and J.J. Gottenbos; In: G. Robblen, R.K. Downey and A. Ashri, Editors, Oil crops of the world, McGraw Hill, New York, USA (1989), pp. 36-86.
ERUCIC ACID IN FOOD: A Toxicological Review and Risk Assessment, TECHNICAL REPORT SERIES NO. 21, FOOD STANDARDS AUSTRALIA NEW ZEALAND, June 2003.
Uptake and metabolism of plasma-derived erucic acid by rat brain, Mikhail Y. Golovko and Eric J. Murphy, The Journal of Lipid Research, 47, 1289-1297, June 2006.
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