Lactose Intolerance and Cheese

Dairy farmers and artisan cheesemakers like Phillip Collman, who holds a PhD in gastrointestinal physiology, are often asked if sheep or goats' milk is better than cows' for lactose-intolerant folks. Not to be confused with a dairy allergy, an adverse immune reaction to a food protein that is normally harmless to the non-allergic individual, lactose intolerance is a non-allergic food hypersensitivity resulting from a lack of production of the enzyme lactase, required to digest the sugar in milk. Adverse effects of lactose intolerance occur at much higher milk consumption than the adverse effects of a milk allergy.

According to Dr. Collman, the lactose content of cow, goat, and sheep milk is an estimated 4.5% for all species or 4.5%, 4.1%, and 4.8%, respectively, differences considered not medically significant. So it's not the type of milk that's important, it's the type of dairy product that counts.

Lactose-intolerant people can enjoy aged cheeses (most of which have lactose levels of 0.1% or less) because, over time, lactose converts to lactic acid which doesn't cause gastrointestinal distress.

Consult your physician to determine if you have a milk allergy or are lactose intolerant. Information sourced from the American Cheese Society newsletter.