If you’ve ever stopped in the grocery aisle to find alternate kinds of milk, then you’ve probably noticed some brands labeled ‘Oat Milk’ and others labeled ‘Oat Beverage.’
Naturally, you wonder, is there a difference between oat milk and oat beverage?
Oat milk and oat beverage are the same thing. The term ‘beverage’ is used to denote that the drink doesn’t contain dairy so as not to confuse it with cow’s milk.
There’s a lot of interesting reasoning behind why oat milk is the same as oat beverage and why different companies choose to label them differently.
The rest of this article will explore what oat milk is and why some companies choose to label it as oat beverage.
Are Oat Milk and Oat Beverage the Same?
Both oat milk and oat beverages are the same―oats soaked in water, blended, and strained. The flavor is a rich, creamy milky taste with an oat-y aftertaste.
Oat milk (or oat beverage, if you prefer) is great for those with gluten and offers several benefits. It’s high in fiber and contains more calcium that cow’s milk.
In addition, it’s lower in calories for those looking to cut down.
The naturally sweet taste of oat milk is great for lots of different recipes as well.
Related: What Does Oat Milk Taste Like?
Why Are Some Brands Called Oat Beverage?
In recent years, dairy sales have been declining and alternatives have been skyrocketing in popularity.
To combat the growing popularity of dairy alternatives, the dairy industry launched an attack on Blue Diamond, a popular almond milk company, claiming that they had to remove the word ‘milk’ from their labels since almond milk was neither an imitation nor a substitute for milk.
They argued that people were confused that they were drinking almond flavored milk, not ‘milk’ made from almonds.
While the courts ruled in favor of the almond growers in 2018, a subsequent series of attacks against other dairy alternatives, including an attempt by a Virginia lawmaker to remove the word ‘milk’ from any label of something that wasn’t from a human or cow, concerned some oat milk production companies.
As a result, oat milk companies changed the name of their product to oat beverage to avoid people being confused that they were drinking oat flavored milk, not a product made entirely from oats.
Oat Milk or Oat Beverage?
Oat milk and oat beverage are the same thing, referring to a product made from oats to create an alternative to milk in recipes.
Some companies chose to change the wording on their product to oat beverage in response to a series of attempts to get the word ‘milk’ off any non-dairy alternative.
