Oat milk

Oat milk is notable for histamine, nickel, FODMAPs and gluten. Clear on tyramine, salicylate, sucrose, lactose, oligosaccharides, sorbitol, fructose and oxalates.

Oat milk contains moderate levels of histamine. Oat milk is made by treating oats with enzymes to break the starch into sugar - which is why it tastes sweet with no sugar on the label - and that enzymatic step is the one thing distinguishing its histamine from the other plant milks. The base is low; the stabilisers and the rapeseed oil are what the ingredient list is for.

Oat milk contains moderate levels of nickel. Oats themselves are high in nickel, but the drink is oats in water and the dilution shows: measured against soy, rice and almond beverages, oat sits in the middle. It is drunk in larger volumes than porridge is eaten, so the daily total is worth watching even at this level. The comparison is measured: across the plant drinks tested on the Italian market, oat's nickel sits below soy.

Oat milk contains only low levels of FODMAPs. Oats carry fructans, and the Monash tables give oat milk a SERVE LIMIT rather than an exemption — a small glass is comfortable, a large one is not, and the difference is the fructan dose. The lactose answer is the one that is genuinely zero, and it is zero for the obvious reason.

Oat milk contains only low levels of gluten. Oat milk is made by treating oats with enzymes and straining, and neither step removes gluten protein - a contaminated oat makes a contaminated drink. The brands built for coeliac buyers use certified oats and say so on the carton; the rest do not. Certification answers contamination and not everything else: both associations say uncontaminated oats suit MOST coeliacs rather than all, because a minority react to the avenin itself. Amounts vary by brand and recipe, so always check the label of the exact product.