A recent lawsuit against Blue Diamond Growers has many questioning how many almonds are actually in the almond milk they drink every day.
Tracy Albert and Dimitrios Malaxianis filed the false advertising claim against Blue Diamond earlier this month after a British Almond Breeze website revealed that almonds only accounted for 2 per cent of the ingredients in the carton, reports FoodNavigator-USA.
And as a spokesperson for the Almond Board of California revealed to Business Insider, the recipe for making almond milk in the U.S. and the U.K. is very similar, so chances are, there's only two per cent in American Almond Breeze containers too.
In the United States and Canada, many almond milk companies do not advertise the amount of almonds in their beverages, which automatically puts up some red flags about the milk alternative. As mentioned in Albert and Malaxianis's claim, most online recipes call for a 25 to 33 per cent almond to milk ratio. According to food law attorney David L. Ter Molen, the lawsuit is focused on Blue Diamond's use of the phrase "made with real almonds," which Albert and Malaxianis argue leads consumers to purchase the product with the idea that they are buying a "healthy and premium product."
Despite the popularity of almond milk, the product has been marred in controversy for years, with many questioning its health benefits. Others point to the excessive amount of water required for almond milk production, particularly in California, where Almond Breeze is made.
Of course, there's also plenty to like about almond milk too (including just the taste), so if you're not ready to give it up just yet, try whipping up a batch at home instead. Trust us, it tastes better anyway.
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