Modified Milk Ingredients

Jeff sent me a nice email, citing my website as the starting point he needed to track down a mystery in the ingredients list.

Following a link I originally got from one of your pages led me eventually to the first actual explanation I have seen of what exactly “modified milk ingredients” signifies in an ingredient list. From: MilkIngredients.ca.

Question:

What is meant by the description: Modified Milk Ingredients?

Answer:

The term "Modified Milk Ingredients" can be used on a product label where the formulation call is for a blend of a dairy by-product (such as whey) with a milk-based ingredient (such as skim milk powder/whole milk powder.) Rather than list the ingredients separately, the manufacturer is able to use this generic description which also allows for changes to be made to the dairy formulation at a later date without having to re-do the label information on the packaging material. In this scenario the product has been "modified" by mechanical means.

The use of the term "Modified" in this case should not be confused with the term "Genetically Modified Organism" (GMO) which involves a product/ingredient for which the composition has been altered chemically or genetically from its original form.

Remember that this answer is taken off of a Canadian site so the technicalities may not be exactly equivalent under U.S. law. It should still be close enough to warn you that the contents will be a dried milk powder and dried milk powders are high in lactose.

Are Natural Flavors Milk?

Here's a question I used to get much more frequently before the labeling laws got changed in 2006. It's one that probably still puzzles a lot of people though.

If an ingredient list for popcorn, specifically Pop Secret homestyle popcorn, contains "natural and artificial flavor" is it possible that those unidentified "flavors" contain dairy? If so, aren't there laws against non-disclosure of allergy information?

I responded:

It's possible, but as you suspect it would be illegal under current labeling laws. If milk is present in any ingredient, the ingredients list must say so and an additional warning of the presence of milk, or any other of the eight major allergens, must be attached.

So I doubt if any manufacturer today uses milk in its generic ingredients. In addition, the amount of lactose that would be present even if the label said milk would be so small that it's highly unlikely to affect you.

The question came from someone who suspected an LI reaction, so that's how I answered it. The small amount of unlabeled dairy might be enough to trigger an allergic reaction in someone very sensitive, though. The possibility of allergic reactions to hidden ingredients is exactly what triggered the change in the labeling laws. While still not perfect, they are far better in the U.S. than they have ever been in the past.