Before the age of one, coconut drinks or milk should not replace breast milk or infant formula: ANSES says that standard drinks are not suitable for this purpose. From one to three years, France’s national health insurance service recommends growing-up milk. A coconut product should therefore be considered according to its place in a meal, not as a substitute. If your child has coeliac disease, check that the exact product you buy is labelled ‘gluten-free’, then choose between a drink, cooking ingredient or dessert according to how you plan to use it.
If you’re considering a coconut product as a replacement for breast milk or infant formula, rule it out for this purpose: according to ANSES, standard plant-based or animal-based drinks are not suitable substitutes at this age.
You’ll need to check the gluten-free status separately from whether the milk is suitable for your child’s age. France’s national health insurance service recommends growing-up milk after the age of one and up to three.
A plant-based drink, coconut milk for cooking and a dessert all have different roles at breakfast. Check their ingredients, nutritional values and storage instructions to make sure they’re suitable for your intended use.
If you’re thinking of adding a gluten-free coconut product to your toddler’s breakfast, first consider your child’s age and how you’ll use the product, then check the label of the one you’ve chosen.
| Criteria | What to check | Who is this for? |
|---|---|---|
| Age and role of the product | Check your child’s age and distinguish between a food ingredient and a drink intended to replace their milk. | If my child is still very young, I want to make sure a coconut product doesn’t take the place of milk that’s suitable for their age. Around 45% of consumers put this first. |
| ‘Gluten-free’ label | Read the packaging of the product you buy, and check the label again if the size or recipe changes. | If my child has coeliac disease, I can’t assume a product is suitable just because it says ‘coconut’. Around 36% of consumers put checking for gluten first. |
| Format and ingredients | Compare the product category, ingredients and nutritional values, particularly fat and protein. | If I’m looking for something to add to breakfast, I want to know whether it’s a drink, a recipe ingredient or a dessert. Around 19% of consumers prioritise the format. |
Before the age of one, coconut drinks or milk should not replace breast milk or infant formula, according to ANSES. For children aged one to three, France’s national health insurance service recommends growing-up milk.
Before you buy, be clear about your child’s age and how you intend to use the product. If you’re considering replacing milk or have concerns about an allergy, ask a healthcare professional for advice.
A plant-based drink, cooking milk and dessert can all have different recipes. The name of the main ingredient alone doesn’t tell you whether a product is suitable for a gluten-free diet.
If your child has coeliac disease, look for an explicit ‘gluten-free’ label on the exact product’s packaging, and check again if you switch to a different product.
Carrefour lists its Sensation coconut milk, which is intended for cooking, as containing 18 g of fat per 100 ml. This product doesn’t have the same role as a carton of plant-based drink.
If you want to add it to a recipe, check the nutritional values and the quantity you use. Don’t make it your child’s main breakfast drink.
The LA COOP coconut dessert listed by Auchan contains 1.1 g of protein and 9.8 g of saturated fatty acids per 100 g. Being a gluten-free dessert doesn’t make it equivalent to growing-up milk.
Consider it as part of a meal, and follow the storage instructions for this product: keep it between 2 and 6 °C.
The Alpro coconut plant-based drink listed by Carrefour comes in a 1 L carton and contains coconut milk and rice, among other ingredients.
According to Carrefour, this 250 ml carton of coconut milk for cooking contains 60% coconut extract.
The LA COOP coconut plant-based dessert listed by Auchan is described as ‘gluten-free’ and ‘with no added sugar’.
Aldi France lists Asia Green Garden coconut milk in a 400 ml carton.
No. According to ANSES, standard plant-based or animal-based drinks are not suitable substitutes for breast milk or infant formula before the age of one. If you need an alternative because of an allergy or intolerance, ask a healthcare professional for advice.
Don’t treat it as equivalent to growing-up milk. France’s national health insurance service recommends growing-up milk from the age of one until three. Any role a coconut product may have in a meal should be considered separately from the role of milk suited to your child’s age.
European Regulation No 828/2014 governs this claim: food as sold to the final consumer must not contain more than 20 mg of gluten per kilogram. If your child has coeliac disease, check the label on the product you’ve chosen rather than relying on the word ‘coconut’ alone.
Start with how you plan to use it: a plant-based drink, an ingredient to add to a recipe and a chilled dessert aren’t interchangeable. Then compare the ingredients and nutritional values, check the ‘gluten-free’ label and, for a dessert, follow the storage instructions for the exact product.