Milk in sweets

Milk is one of the 14 allergens that UK food law says must always be declared, and the rule covers milk products and lactose too. It is also a familiar ingredient in sweets, especially the creamy, buttery kinds.

Where milk turns up

• Chocolate. Milk chocolate contains milk solids, and so does white chocolate, alongside cocoa butter, sugar and, generally, an emulsifier such as soy lecithin.
• Fudge. Fudge is made by mixing sugar, butter and milk. Cornish fudge, in its traditional form, uses clotted cream: see fudge
• Toffee. Toffee is made by caramelising sugar or molasses with butter: see toffee
• Caramels. Chewy caramels are made by boiling milk or cream, sugar, glucose, butter and vanilla.
• Butterscotch. Its main ingredients are brown sugar and butter, and some recipes add cream: see butterscotch

Milk under other names

Milk can appear in an ingredients list in several forms. Butter and cream are milk products. Milk powder and whey, the liquid left over from cheese making, are also milk, and so is lactose, the sugar in milk. On a packed sweet, each must be emphasised as an allergen wherever it appears in the ingredients list, using a different font, style or background colour.

One ingredient is treated differently. Lactitol, a sugar alcohol used as a sweetener, is exempt from the milk allergen rule.

Allergy or intolerance?

A milk allergy and lactose intolerance are different things. The NHS explains that lactose intolerance causes symptoms, such as tummy pain, bloating and diarrhoea, after eating lactose. A food allergy is a reaction that can cause difficulty breathing, itchy skin and swelling of the lips, face and eyes, and it can be life threatening. If you think you have either, talk to your GP.

Sweets without milk

Do not assume a sweet is milk free just because it is not chocolate, fudge or toffee: check each label, and look for precautionary labels too, as sweets made in the same place as milk chocolate may carry a may contain milk warning: see a guide to dairy free sweets and what does may contain mean on sweets?

In our pick and mix, the chocolate, fudge and toffee sweets, such as milk chocolate raisins, white chocolate mice, vanilla fudge cubes, toffee bonbons and chocolate toffee eclairs, are the ones to check first if you avoid milk. Each sweet card shows its ingredients and allergens before you buy.

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