Costa Change Almond Milk to a May Contain Gluten Version

Last year, Costa changed their dairy free milks from Alpro - versions that were safe for Coeliacs - to a cheaper brand, all of which carried a may contain warning except for the almond milk. At the same time they also added oat milk.

Costa and Oat Milk
The change to an oat milk that wasn't gluten free caused a lot of controversy as this now meant a contamination risk when it came to the steam wands.

Costa for a while argued that there was no risk until it caused somewhat of an uproar on Twitter and head office seemed to change their stance to say yes there was a chance of contamination but the heat blast and wiping of the wand minimised it...this didn't please a lot of Coeliacs thats for sure!

Anyway, the oat milk shenanigans is another story, take a look at this blog from last year all about that!

Costas Latest Change...
In the last few weeks another change has happened when it comes to Costas dairy free milks. The almond milk, the one that didn't carry a may contain warning has been changed to one that DOES carry a may contain warning. Which now means none of the dairy free milks are safe for Coeliacs.

Now I get with costs rising that they may have to switch for affordability, but this also means no dairy free alternatives at costa are now safe for Coeliacs. So what does that mean for us gluten freer's?

Well if you can have normal milk, you're good, to some extend at least. Remember there is still that potential contamination risk with the throthers if they have been used for oat milk beforehand - they do "steam blast" and wipe them but there is still potential risk there. If you don't want to take the risk and can have cows milk then regular coffee and tea are all you can really have. You can also have the cold drinks with milk as they have labelled blenders for dairy and none dairy.

If you can't have cows milk though it's a different story. No dairy free alternative is completely safe for Coeliacs which means black tea and coffee.

Even if you risk may contains (which you shouldn't but I know some of you do) you are still limited, though not just with the oat milk fiasco either, if you think cold drinks too, all dairy free alts are done in the same blender.

Bad move on Costas part? I think so, I used to love an almond milk hot chocolate, not because I can't have dairy, just by choice, but that's now out for me. Should they have stuck with a more expensive brand? Definitely, from a Coeliacs perspective. From a business perspective, I can see why they switched but at the same time they've just knocked out a portion of customers with a simple change.

What do you think on Costas milk change? Let me know in the comments.