Customer Reviews

Rice Dream Rice Drink, Enriched Original, Now Organic, 8-Ounce Boxes (Pack of 27)

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

Earlier this year, the FDA enacted a new rule forcing companies to take the gluten-free label from anything that has more than 20 ppm gluten. (I'm looking at you, Arrowhead Mills and Bob's Red Mill.)

However, you can be right at 20 ppm, which makes a lot of celiacs sick, and still label yourself, "gluten free". (The rule should have said, "less than 20 ppm", not "20 ppm or less".)

This is where Amazon is fantastic--they made the company list the gluten in this, so we know it's NOT gluten free. (I have yet to find a Hain's food product that was actually gluten free, although some of them are legally gluten free. Look for their name on the labels so you know what to avoid, even if they are hiding behind the federal law and they have labeled their products gf.)

Pacific Rice Milk and Whole Foods' store brands of rice milk are gluten free, though. Buy those instead.

My daughter (toddler) Is allergic to dairy and soy. We tried goat's milk to no avail and have finally happily settled on Rice Dream Enriched Original. She loves it and Even I like the taste. It's a little sweet and she picked it right up after a year of breastfeeding. With the addition of a multivitamin each day, my pediatrician has approved it's use.

We purchase the 64 ounce size for $3.24 at a local store (about $0.05 an ounce.) I came online to look for a better price when purchasing in bulk. The price for these small 8 ounce containers is $0.16 per ounce and causes MUCH more packaging waste. I appreciate the convenience of having it in a small package for dining out, etc... but It's just as easy to take an insulated sippy cup and be more environmentally conscious.

The Rice Dream Website sells the 32 ounce size but their price is $0.10 an ounce, without shipping costs. Not much advantage to purchasing online so far. I was hoping that Amazon would have a decent cost on the larger sizes with free super saving shipping, because I could stop shopping at Wal-Mart entirely.

I have contacted Amazon to request that they carry the larger 64 ounce size in cases. The first time I called, the Customer Service Rep
s computer locked up and she requested that I call her back. The second time I called I was told to leave feedback on the product and that all feedback is read by Amazon and that it could make a difference and might increase the chance that the product would be carried in a larger size, due to demand.

Rice Dream has a light, refreshing taste. You can drink this alone unlike soy milk which only tastes good when combined with other foods like cereal.

The price here is outrageous though, especially for only 8oz containers.

Tiny boxes of rice milk averaging $1.00 a box. It also had a weird taste. I buy Rice Dream rice milk all of the time and we like it, but these tiny drink boxes taste weird. A total rip off.

I used Imagine Rice beverages for many years. I favored them 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.

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 additon, 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.

Rice Dream has two Healthwise Rice beverage products, that use safflower oil and no canola oil, have half as much sugar, and include plant sterols that may lower serum cholesterol levels. 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. Westsoy Rice Beverage has a similar consistency to Rice Dream with a little more body and milky flavor, and is canola free.

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 below.

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. Check out this small sample of government and peer-reviewed medical journal articles documenting my statements, available online.

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.

If you like Rice Dream, try the Healthwise products that are much healthier!

The price for this item is three times what you would pay at the store.

I like Rice Dream. This, however, is too high a price for too small a container. Smaller containers waste more packaging materials per ounce of product too!

You can get a better deal purchasing a carton from Walmart or an organic store (Roots) nearby.

I agree with the other reviewer. Amazon should carry the 64 ounce containers!!!

Wonderful product and great shelf life...love the small individual packets...I place two at a time in the fridge; when cold, they taste just like milk for cereal etc..I am lactose intolerant..perfect product..

The switch to organic is a good step, but Rice Dream rice milk is chalky and too sugary - 23 grams of carbohydrates per serving! That's close to the sugars in a soda. A person could get a sugar high or go into sugar shock (if diabetic) with this level of sugar. I finally stumbled upon unsweetened Almond Breeze vanilla which has 4 grams of carbs and So Delicious vanilla coconut milk which has 9 grams of carbs. I still have half a dozen sugary rice milks that I'm watering down with homemade almond milk just to reduce the terrifying sugar level. Unsweetened Almond Breeze tastes smooth and nutty, and regular so Delicious both tastes smooth and somewhat coconutty. You can even mix the two and even add some rice milk, but rice milk alone is too high in sugars.