Setting the Table Guidance

Appendix 2: Soya drink specification

The following specification was developed to support childcare providers who offer non-dairy alternative drinks as part of the Scottish Nursery Milk and Healthy Snack Scheme, to choose one that has the closest possible nutritional content to cow’s milk.

1. There is a very wide range of soya drinks on the market with varying levels of nutritional content (calories, protein, sugar, and fat) and added (fortified) vitamins and minerals. This specification has been designed as a guide to support those selecting an unsweetened, fortified soya drink for children over 12 months to ensure that those provided have the closest possible nutritional content to cows’ milk.

2. The values below are guiding amounts and can be used to compare against the nutritional information of unsweetened, fortified soya drinks. This information can be found on the back of the packaging or requested from suppliers.

3. Any soya drink provided should be unsweetened and fortified. Fortification with nutrients which are present in plain cows’ milk has been included as desirable to help ensure adequate nutrient intakes in children drinking dairy alternatives. However, please note that not all drinks will contain all the desirable nutrients listed below.

4. It is desirable that unsweetened fortified non-dairy alternatives are also fortified with Vitamin A, however soya drinks containing this vitamin are very limited.

5. Organic varieties are not fortified with any vitamins or minerals and are therefore not suitable.

6. Descriptions of unsweetened, fortified soya drinks varies between products. Products may include descriptions such as ‘reduced calorie’, ‘no sweeteners’, ‘totally unsweetened’, ‘no sugars’, ‘light’, ‘original’, ‘natural’, ‘skinny’ and more. As well as checking the description, if unsure whether a product contains added (free) sugar, check the ingredients list. Sugar may appear in ingredients lists as sugar, raw cane sugar, honey, fructose, maltodextrin, sucrose, high fructose corn syrup and more. The specification above should be used to determine the amount of sugar within the product, and this will help to ensure that it meets acceptable levels.