> If I am on a milk free diet, would it be permissable to use ghee. I worry
>about all the chemicals in margarine and would always use butter by choice
>if I could have it as it is a natural product.
>Gina

I posted this before and I will post it again:

Ghee (clarified butter) is on the Food Allergy Network list as dairy.
Beware anyone with severe milk allergies. Don't use it as the Network
states that there is milk protein in ghee.

Here is what the chemist found through research of food scientists to be
the chemical composition of ghee.

Triglycerides  98%
Steroids        0.5%
Fatty Acids     0.4%
Water           0.3%
Others          0.8%

"Others includes:  phospholipids, fat soluble vitamins A&E, carotenes (only
in cows ghee), volatile & non-volatile ketones and aldehydes, and traces of
charred casein, calcium, phosphorus, etc.

So there is charred casein in well-filtered ghee and no one would obviously
want to use this with an anaphylactic person.

I would like to note that I have used ghee at home with my son (now 5 1/2)
since he started on solids at 6 months.  He gets hives with dairy and has
no problem with ghee.  In fact, just last week I did my own skin test on
him.  I rubbed ghee on one cheek and butter on the other.  Sure enough the
butter side broke out and no reaction on the ghee side.

Rachele Shaw
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