Author Topic: lactose testing  (Read 1906 times)

McCreamy

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lactose testing
« on: April 14, 2013, 04:31:13 PM »
Is there a way to test the amount of lactose in dairy products? My dairy farmer husband is very lactose intolerant (yes, I know it is kind of ironic). Anyway, I want to get back into cheese making, and maybe try to create some cheeses that he can eat.

Offline Tiarella

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Re: lactose testing
« Reply #1 on: April 14, 2013, 06:45:43 PM »
Have you checked out A1 versus A2 cows and the impact of their milk.  And does he drink it raw and still get bothered by it?  Some who thought they were lactose intolerant are fine with it if they do the research about a few of these variables.  I feel for you though because my partner doesn't do well with dairy although he's not specifically lactose intolerant.  Ironic for me to have a small herd of goats and to be making cheese that he mostly doesn't eat.  I feel your pain!!   ;)

Tomer1

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Re: lactose testing
« Reply #2 on: April 14, 2013, 09:18:39 PM »
Are there any Lactase products which can be used to convert an amount of the lactose to glucose and lower the final lactose content of an acidifyied cheese?
Id imagine that+acid cogualated ripened cheese whould result in very low residual lactose content.

iratherfly

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Re: lactose testing
« Reply #3 on: April 14, 2013, 10:45:36 PM »
Anything well-aged (starting at about 2 months) have no lactose in it. The lactic bacteria consumed all of it by then and dies off.

A good way to look at it is looking at the nutritional value labels of some cheeses in the market.  You will notice that aged cheeses list a sugar level of zero.  Your husband can eat any aged cheese (a fact that many lactose intolerant people are unaware of!), and you can start making it.  If your husband is sensitive to aged cheese as well, than chances are that it is not lactose intolerance but an allergy to one of the milk proteins, which is more rare (even more so with adults) but happens.

McCreamy

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Re: lactose testing
« Reply #4 on: April 29, 2013, 02:59:55 PM »
Yes, raw milk also gives him problems unfortunately. I have heard of some people being ok with raw milk, and he is definitely not one of them. He doesn't do well with yogurt either (I had to actually buy lactose free yogurt). We bought some lactase drops online, and have been using them in the raw milk, and he has been doing better. I tried using lactase treated milk to use yogurt, and it was ok. I was just wondering if I could also use lactase treated milk to make cheese, or if the lactose is something that the milk needs to use to make cheese? I was curious to know if anyone knew of something like a test strip (or any other method really) to measure the amount of lactose in products. Google gave me nothing, and I remembered how knowledgeable and helpful everyone is on this site! I kind of gave up making stuff when he started having problems, and would like to start again, I miss it!

WovenMeadows

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Re: lactose testing
« Reply #5 on: April 29, 2013, 07:12:25 PM »
Yes, raw milk also gives him problems unfortunately. I have heard of some people being ok with raw milk, and he is definitely not one of them. He doesn't do well with yogurt either (I had to actually buy lactose free yogurt). We bought some lactase drops online, and have been using them in the raw milk, and he has been doing better. I tried using lactase treated milk to use yogurt, and it was ok. I was just wondering if I could also use lactase treated milk to make cheese, or if the lactose is something that the milk needs to use to make cheese? I was curious to know if anyone knew of something like a test strip (or any other method really) to measure the amount of lactose in products. Google gave me nothing, and I remembered how knowledgeable and helpful everyone is on this site! I kind of gave up making stuff when he started having problems, and would like to start again, I miss it!
Well, the basis of producing pretty much any kind of cheese is the production of lactic acid by certain bacteria feeding upon the lactose in milk. I'm not sure what the acid production would be of starter bacteria feeding on just the components of lactose - glucose and galactose - after adding lactase. If acid production wasn't sufficient, it might be possible to add the acid externally, like with citric acid, as in "30-minute mozzarella" type makes. But again, for any aged cheese, the lactose is pretty much all eaten up anyway, so it might just be fresh, soft cheeses where it matters. Haloumi is one type that doesn't have culture added and isn't ripened, so maybe that would be a good candidate for trying with added-lactase milk?