Live data from Hacker News

Oatly: The New Coke?

divinations.substack.com

91–100 of 429 posts

Re: Oatly: The New Coke?

#91
I've started making oat milk. It's pretty good.

Base for my smoothies. Substitute for yoghurt. Mostly because COVID-19 has reduced my dairy and fresh leafy greens consumption. (Fiber from oats isn't the same, I know.)

For the enzyme, I use either honey or overripe banana. I generally let the oats soak in the blender for 30-60 minutes, hitting the button a few times if I remember.

For fats, I use either olive oil or coconut cream.

FWIW, this article's tone is a big turn off. It's good to point out high glycemic response, canola oil, and maltose. And I have no constructive comments about Coca Cola. But comparing oat milk to HFCS drinks is silly.

Re: Oatly: The New Coke?

#92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I suggest you look up "factory farming" before making claims like "It’s not like a dairy cow has a life of eternal suffering after all". They literally don't do any of the activities you mention.

I know dairy farming very, very well. It varies between areas. In France for example, there are no mega farms, all farms are small to medium, many family owned. Hormones are banned. This is true for other parts of Western Europe. Mega Farms are mostly an American issue. I do not support them at all.

This is substantially incorrect, especially for France [1]: While cows indeed aren't grown in intensive farming in France, 95% of pork in France is raised in intensive factory farming, and other species have similar stats. Most of the western world has similar stats.

This is far from a US-only problem.

[1] https://www.liberation.fr/france/2018/06/04/porcs-bovins-vol...

Re: Oatly: The New Coke?

#93
post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It also has oats, though only 10%.

Careful. Oatly's ingredient listing is potentially deceptive. The ingredients are listed as: > Oat base (water, oats 10%), rapeseed oil, ... That is, the oats make up 10% of the oat base, which is the most prominent ingredient, not of the entire product. The other ingredients which I've elided are things like stabilizers, preservatives, and so on, so they likely don't account for more than 1% of the total product. No…

If you want your post to seem reasonable maybe estimate a level of canola oil lower than 49%, it can be calculated from the fat content in a serving.

Re: Oatly: The New Coke?

#94

I was looking for a second opinion, and found the comment by Glenn in that article was a good counterpoint. I won't repeat it here, but another point that comes to mind is that one may use a very small amount of milk-substitute in your hot drink, compared to drinking a much larger amount of coke. So it's not perfectly comparable, even if they were equally bad.

It's not just for coffee though. You could use it as one would use milk e.g. add it to your bowl of cereal, hot chocolate, milkshake etc. and consume a larger amount in total.

Re: Oatly: The New Coke?

#95
post #24

Any recommendations for a different good-tasting, ‘healthy’ milk alternative, then? Porridge or cereal with water is inedible...

Why doesn't soy milk work? There's soy milk and there's soy milk; the various brands taste quite different.

Thanks - I’ll give it a go.

Re: Oatly: The New Coke?

#96
Is Glycemic Index important for healthy people or is it mainly of concern to people with diabetes?

The NHS suggests the latter, but it doesn't seem to have a very strong position - unlike the article, which seems very sure that high GI is bad for you.

However, using the glycaemic index to decide whether foods or combinations of foods are healthy can be misleading.

https://www.nhs.uk/common-health-questions/food-and-diet/wha...

Re: Oatly: The New Coke?

#97
post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Dairy cows exist because we actively breed them. We inject dairy cows with sperm to keep them pregnant so they keep producing milk, then take their calf away and repeat the process. They're not multiplying on their own.

That’s exactly my point. With no utility, these animals would not exist. Are their lives so miserable that we can morally assert that they should not be living?

Yes, they are extremely miserable (look up "factory farming").

Re: Oatly: The New Coke?

#98
post #13

The article mentioned Merchants of Doubt . I recommend following it up with Industrial Strength Denial https://www.amazon.com/Industrial-Strength-Denial-Corporatio... , which documents similar practices supporting industries like leaded gas, radium (promoted for health including injecting it and using it in suppositories), and slavery. As an alternative to Oatly, I bought a soy milk making machine (used from Craig's…

About making soymilk: I do like the idea of making the soymilk I consume myself. I have not yet though found a way to utilize the okara (soy pulp) that is produced in the process. Do you have any tips what to do with it?

There is a fast food chain in Singapore which used the left over fibres in granola bars. At least that's what they said in a documercial: https://www.mrbean.com.sg/product-category/granola

Re: Oatly: The New Coke?

#99
One thing to think about with any oat based product is whether or not the oats are organic or not.

In North America, it is common practice to spray roundup on the oats just before harvest. This prepares the oats for harvest at a pre-determined time, and so is less risky to the farmer. However, the amount of roundup in the resulting product is quite high.

The organic oats are traditionally farmed and do not have this problem.

EDIT:

The Oatly FAQ has a lot of interesting info related to this discussion.

https://us.oatly.com/pages/faqs

Re: Oatly: The New Coke?

#100

"Made for humans" also draws attention to the fact that the milk you're drinking from a cow is not being drank by the offspring of that cow like it normally would and many people don't realise you have to keep making diary cows give birth to get more milk. Newly born male cows are usually turned into veal in a few weeks and female cows are separated from their mothers so they don't drink the valuable milk. Milk givin…

I’m ideologically positive to vegetarianism and veganism but I’m so sick of this argument. Something being “made for humans” is in no way a positive — so is cocaine.
Post reply on HN