Questions over vegan icecream
Dairy-free icecreams being sold in New Zealand may contain milk, despite being certified as vegan.
Magnum Dairy-Free icecreams sold in Kiwi stores are imported from Italy and certified vegan by international organisation Vegan Action.
However, questions arose over their dairy-free status when consumers in Europe noticed that the packaging included the disclaimer ‘‘May contain milk’’.
Magnum launched its DairyFree Classic and Almond icecreams in New Zealand earlier this year but neither carries the message about milk.
A spokeswoman for Unilever, which owns the Streets brand and makes the icecreams, said they were made on the same production line as dairy-based products.
She said there was ‘‘stringent cleaning’’ of the equipment between dairy and non-dairy products.
The packaging of the Almond icecream states it may contain other tree nuts, and lists wheat as a potential allergen.
It also warns of the dangers of broken sticks but neither packet notes the shared production line.
Asked if the labelling should include a warning that the icecream was made on a shared line and could contain milk, the spokeswoman said she would have to refer that question to someone else.
Further attempts to contact the company were unsuccessful but in a tweet to a concerned consumer, Magnum UK said the vegan recipes had no intentionally added dairy ingredients.
‘‘As our vegan and non-vegan products are made in the same place, we’re unable to guarantee complete absence of allergen but we work very hard to minimise the risk of cross-contamination.’’