Almond Milk May Only Be 2% Almond—And That's OK

If you read the infamous Mother Jones takedown, “Lay Off the Almond Milk, You Ignorant Hipsters,” you know that store-bought almond milk is mostly water. But according to plaintiffs suing industry giants Blue Diamond and WhiteWave—the makers of Almond Breeze and Silk, respectively—the iniquities don’t stop there. The plaintiffs allege that these brands of almond milk contain only 2 percent almonds, and that the companies have falsely advertised these products for years.

The class-action lawsuit draws on information available for the U.K. versions of Blue Diamond and WhiteWave almond milks; their labels clearly indicate 2 percent almond content. It is entirely possible that the U.S. and U.K. versions have different formulas and that the almond milk on this side of the pond is more or less almond-y. But either way, the companies don’t disclose that information to consumers in the U.S.—and the FDA doesn’t require them to. (After all, percentages could reveal a brand’s secret recipe.)