The Answer to Lactose Free Cheese

For a lactose intolerant person just about any dairy product will have some adverse affect on them.

Before we get into this articles I want to clarify what lactose is. Lactose is a form of sugar that is found in milk. As studies have shown that lactose is around 2% to 8% of milk. Most people struggle with a lifetime of intolerance. Now that we have the science look at lactose lets focus on the topic at hand which is cheese that is free of lactose. Well in order to understand the lactose as it relates to cheese we need to understand how cheese is made.

Cheese making process:

Pasteurize milk and place it in a container. Next step is to add some bacteria to the milk which will begin the process of giving the cheese some flavor and texture. Then an enzyme called a rennet is put in the milk. This enzyme will start to coagulate or thicken the milk. The process will start to look like a capped pudding or solid color jello. This gets us to the solid and liquid separation process. The processor will then cut the mixer and begin slowly cooking it. This process separates the curds and whey of which the whey is removed and you are left with a cheese to begin aging.

So again you may ask what does that have to do with lactose free cheese. Well the answer to that question is this, cheese barely has any lactose in it. Let me clarify that answer real quick before you go running out to stock up on just about any cheese. The above described process starting at the enzyme stage starts to separate the whey from the curd. about 98% of lactose goes with the whey. The other 2% that is left over will grow smaller and smaller as the cheese that is left over ages.

Well that means that a good aged sharp cheddar cheese will not have a noticeable amount of lactose in it. Which is good for me because I love aged sharp cheddar. However there are some cheeses that still retain lactose in bigger quantities such as ricotta. Ricotta is a softer cheese that still retain some whey and is not aged. This can upset someone that has an intolerance to lactose and should be avoided. If your diet calls for some cheese I would be on the lookout in your market for products that have terms like: Lactose free, lactofree, lactaid. Another thing to be on the lookout for with cheeses is gluten free. That is a chemical that is part of the process of producing lactose. It will not eliminate it but should help cut down on the lactose. Just because you are trying to eliminate the lactose out of cheese does not mean that it will taste bad either. Remember I love sharp cheddar that has been aged.

As you are walking through the grocery store and you come into the cheese section take a look around and substitute some of your diet with a good aged sharp cheddar. If you are worried that it would be to much for you remember all things are good in moderation. They sell small samples of good cheeses that you can use to test the waters out. You will not be disappointed and I hope that you come away surprised about lactose in cheese. Here’s to some cheese and crackers.