Got Milk?

I’ve been finding that casein is found in many unexpected places. Casein is a natural protein found in milk which is used sometimes as a binding agent. Lately I’ve found out that casein can be made into knitting needles, various plastics, and can even be spun into yarn! One disturbing thing I have found, however, is that latex is sometimes made with casein. Latex allergies are somewhat well known, but if you know that you aren’t allergic to latex most people wouldn’t wonder about whether or not it was harmful to them in any other way.

The casein content of latex has sparked some outcry from the vegan community since casein is derived from milk. This has caused a search for vegan-friendly condoms made from all natural latex. My problem is that all of the articles about casein and condoms tend to lead to this topic. I am not particularly interested in the ethics of using milk products in condoms, I just want to know if they will cause an allergic reaction.

Finding the answer to this question is extremely hard. The leading condom websites don’t have much information as to what goes into their condoms. Trojan claims that they receive raw latex at their factories, but then describes how they add “chemicals”, which is probably the casein among other things. I tried to find a FAQ section, however all of the questions were related to the reliability of the product and were most likely created by the marketing team instead of actual curious people (like myself). In the end I had to contact the parent company, but still have yet to hear back. I will try and post any results as they come.

I wasn’t really expecting to find any statements like “the casein content is safe” on the site because frankly it isn’t an issue most people need to worry about (unless you’re vegan). The thing that got to me was just how hard it was to find a place to ask a question. Hopefully the companies I contacted will actually reply, but I think it is more likely that my question will disappear into the void.

I found some other websites that address the safety of casein in condoms, and the future doesn’t look bright:

http://www.foodsmatter.com/allergy_intolerance/latex/articles/safesex.html

http://whatallergy.com/2011-01/condoms

I wish these sites had more information, but I guess I’ll take what I can get. Alas, it seems that German-made vegan condoms are in my future. 

(image taken from here)


Edit:

In addition to the casein issue with condoms, apparently one of the websites I linked to in my post mentions that condoms are packaged with cornstarch to keep them from sticking when they are rolled up. Why does it make its way into so many things?

However, it seems that lubricated condoms are not using this on the product, according to this site:

http://cornfree.ca/life.htm

Of course this raises the question of just what is in the lubricant, but at least it shuts the corn issue down. But then again, it seems that condoms are "washed" with cornstarch during their production, whatever that means. Curses!

http://www.fhi.org/en/RH/Pubs/booksReports/latexcondom/condmanuf.htm