Oat drink ranks safest and healthiest plant-based option, study finds

Oat drink is the safest and healthiest plant-based alternative in a new assessment, while rice and almond drinks should be used only occasionally, Yle reports.

A broad Finnish study by the Finnish Food Authority and the Technical Research Centre of Finland, VTT, found that plant-based drinks and snacks sold in Finland are generally safe. However, it also provided more detailed information about some of the risks associated with the rapidly growing product category.

The Finnish Food Authority issued new recommendations on Thursday for plant-based drinks consumed by young children. The guidance mainly concerns children aged one to six.

The authority recommends that children in this age group consume no more than six decilitres of oat drink or fermented oat-based snacks per day. These snacks include yoghurt-like products. The corresponding limit for soy drinks and fermented soy-based snacks is three decilitres per day.

“If a child eats or drinks a little more on one day, it does not cause harm. Average intake is what matters,” said Kaisa Kukkonen, a special adviser at the Finnish Food Authority.

The new limits are based on the cadmium and nickel found in oats and soy. These substances occur in plant-based foods and can increase health risks in large amounts, although the smaller quantities found in the products are not harmful.

The recommendations do not mean that young children should avoid oat or soy drinks. They can be part of a young child’s daily diet, provided the recommended limits are observed, Kukkonen said.

The Finnish Food Authority recommends that young children consume almond drinks only occasionally, rather than as a meal drink. One reason is the risk of aflatoxin, a mould toxin that can damage the liver.

Rice drinks should also be consumed only occasionally by people of all ages because of their arsenic content. Arsenic increases the risk of cancer.

Oat drink ranks first for health benefits

As part of the Vegeturva project, researchers assessed the risks and health benefits of four plant-based drinks. Their recommended order was oat drink, soy drink, almond drink and rice drink.

Oat drink was considered the best option for drinking with food and for cooking, followed by soy drink. Almond drink ranked clearly lower, while rice drink was the weakest choice.

Increasing oat drink consumption at population level could also benefit health. Oat drink contains dietary fibre, and a larger share of oat drink brands is adequately fortified with iodine compared with other plant-based drinks, said Johanna Suomi, a research professor at the Finnish Food Authority.

Soy drink also contains a large amount of dietary fibre. Oat drink ranked higher partly because it contains lower levels of cadmium and nickel.

One disadvantage of almond drink is its low fibre content. International research has also identified aflatoxins, mould toxins harmful to the liver, as a risk associated with almond products.

Rice drink ranked last because it contains arsenic and is not as nutritionally beneficial as the other alternatives.

The study did not determine whether cow’s milk or a plant-based drink is the better option in terms of risks and health benefits. Based on current research, the differences are so small that neither can be considered clearly better or worse for health, Suomi said.

A survey conducted as part of the Vegeturva project found that some Finns are concerned about possible health risks associated with plant-based products such as oat drink.