A while back in a Food Friday video, we highlighted a product that our coaches used in their daily nutrition: Fairlife Milk. Fairlife seemed to have it all, great taste, amazing macros, and it was lactose free, which is very important for those among us who sensitive to dairy. Fairlife did seem like the perfect product, until a scandal broke last month of extreme animal abuse at Fair Oak Farms, one of the milk providers for Fairlife Milk. I won’t link the videos here, as they are quite disturbing, but undercover footage from the dairy farm showed employees needlessly beating the animals.
Although Fairlife Milk has stopped receiving milk from this particular supplier, as well as tightening up their standards at other providers, this left a bad taste in the mouths of many of my clients (pardon the pun). This lead me to search for a milk product that my clients could purchase in good conscience. Enter Ripple Milk, a non-dairy milk alternative. So how does it stack up against Fairlife? Let’s take a look.
By the Numbers
Ripple Milk seems to have two primary products, a regular milk and a chocolate flavor. The macros on each are similar. The white milk comes in at 8 protein, 6 carbohydrate, and 4.5 fat. Compared to Fairlife skim, that is 5 less grams of protein, identical carbs, and 4.5g more fat. A cup of traditional milk typically has 8g of protein, but keep in mind most non-dairy options (like Almond Milk) have hardly any protein at all. Compare Ripple to a 1 cup serving of Almond Breeze Almond Milk which has only 1g of protein.
The Ripple Chocolate Milk is more comprable to the Fairlife. Ripple Chocolate clocks in at the same 8g of protein as the white milk, 17g of carbs, and the same 4.5g of fat as the non-chocolate version. Fairlife Chocolate milk has 13g of protein, 13g of carbs, and 4.5g of fat.
Are the macros better on the Fairlife Products? Yes, but only slightly. Macros aside, let’s talk about the next most important factor: Taste
The Taste Test
Ripple Milk is not an almond milk, since it’s nut free. To be honest, I’m not quite sure what it’s made of. It seems to be a proprietary blend, but being nut free is a bonus for those with a nut allergy. Despite being nut free, I find the taste and the texture to be quite similar to almond milk. When looking at the ingredients list on the Ripple chocolate milk, it seems nearly identical to the white milk with only the addition of cocoa powder. This would explain the additional carbohydrates. With that in mind, the Ripple chocolate milk has a more “natural” and earthy chocolate flavor compared to Fairlife which does feel a bit richer and more processed. Neither are bad, it really just comes down to personal preference.
The Perfect Milk?
The perfect milk doesn’t exist. I would love to see Ripple continue to develop their product and possibly pack it with even more protein and maybe a bit less fat. On the other hand, I would really like to see Fairlife be more transparent and proactive about what they’re doing to ensure a quality of life standard for their cows. In the meantime, I’ll likely be drinking Ripple Milk.
Is there a milk product that “checks all of your boxes?” Let me know! I’m always looking for new products not only to share with my clients, but for my own nutrition.
