Lactose Free Cheese

Lactose is a disaccharide sugar that is found most notably in milk and is formed from galactose and glucose.

We use a dairy free "cheese" - the brand is Daiya. It is the closes to real cheese we can find.

Lactose is the simple sugar found in milk and milk products. So lactose-free means no lactose is allowed.

That means, unless the product specifically states it is lactose-free or specially prepared so that it cannot harm someone who needs to eat lactose-free--then you should probably exercise caution and not eat it.

I found this on the Internet: Lactose is a sugar. It is present in relatively high doses in milk. Soy does not have any appreciable amounts of lactose.

And contrary to popular belief, "lactose free" milk still has small amounts of lactose. The manufacturers add an enzyme that converts lactose into usable sugars for "lactose-intolerant" individuals. This is not done to 100% completion, but instead to a lactose concentration that won't result in "lactose intolerant" symptoms by sufferers. By the same token, most cheese has the lactose consumed by the bacteria, so it too is low in lactose. So, if your drink says "lactose free", than the milk used has been treated with the enzyme. (Source(s): BS in biochemistry.)

Your daughter might do better with sheep cheese, goat cheese, soy cheese alternatives (if she can have soy; I personally wouldn't give soy to a child), or some of the other "alternative" cheeses they have out there for vegan and/or people with dairy allergies/intolerances.

Depending on how lactose-intolerant your daughter is (do you know she's lactose-intolerant and doesn't have a protein allergy to whey or casein?), you will probably want to watch very closelyl what it is she eats and drinks.

Until my husband was diagnosed with severe casein allgery, he used to drink lactaid milk and lactaid products and take lactaid supplements so he could continue to eat cow/milk products. He never could understand why he was still continuously sick. When he finally discovered he was actually allergic to casein/cow milk and he totally stayed away from anything made with cow milk, then and only then was he able to be healthy and not get sick. He can eat/drink goat and sheep milk/products just fine. In fact, we've cut our consumption of dairy products (goat, sheep) down by half. Probably better for us anyway.

Processed cheeses will all have lactose in them (unless they are made form oil & not milk). The harder cheeses do not. This is because they are aged & the sugar (lactose) is converted during the aging process. So the rule of thumb is the older the cheese the less likely it will be to have lactose. Also the older it is the harder it will be as well, & this usually means less kid friendly.

You're right - hard cheeses are generally lactose free.