Dairy Allergies and Intolerance
This resource explains the many dairy allergies and intolerance issues that quite a handful of people have to deal with. The advice below will help you be more cautious on the particular types of food used if you ever have to deal with food allergen prone people. Please refer to our valuable guides on various culinary topics as you continue reading through this page.
ISSUES WITH DAIRY CONSUMPTION
While a lot of people have issues with consumption of dairy, the general public tends to lump all of these issues together as “lactose intolerance.” While lactose intolerance is probably the most common issue, there are other, related conditions. In this brief introduction, we detail some of the most common issues, as well as point the interested reader in the direction of medical advice, recipes, and more. Lactose intolerance, also known as lactose maldigestion, isn’t an allergy. It occurs when the digestive system doesn’t produce a sufficient amount of the enzyme lactase, which is required to break down lactose into the simple sugars galactose and glucose. This results in gas, cramps, and diarrhea. Most lactose-intolerant individuals are able to tolerate small amounts of lactose. Milk can also have lactase added to it, and lactase tablets can be taken. Lactose intolerance is relatively infrequent in those of Northern and Western European ancestry, but more common than lactose tolerance in those of East Asian, Southern African, and Native American ancestry. The lactose intolerant should avoid milk, milk powder, and lactic acid.
Milk allergy is an allergic reaction to a protein in milk. If milk is consumed, the typical symptoms of allergic reaction ensue: swelling, hypotension, hives, and itching. People with milk allergies should avoid milk, milk powder, lactose acid, casein, and all casein derivatives. Casein intolerance occurs when the immune system produces antibodies that attack casein, a protein that makes up 80% of the protein in cow’s milk. This is a fairly rare condition. The casein intolerant should avoid the same products as people allergic to milk. Casein-related villous atrophy is another fairly rare condition in which casein causes the villi in the small intestine to flatten. People suffering from coeliac disease have the same issue, except in response to gluten rather than casein. Individuals with villous atrophy should likewise avoid milk products and casein derivatives. Anyone with these issues knows to avoid dairy. However, casein and other dairy derivatives often lurk within other foods under different names. How much a consumer wants to watch for the following ingredients depends on how severe his or her condition is. A mildly lactose intolerant person should be able to handle a lot of what’s listed below, and should handle casein without difficulty. However, people with severe milk allergies need to be much more careful. Pretty much anything that begins with the prefix lact- is a lactose derivative. Added proteins are often milk protein, so look out for anything advertised as “high protein.” Caramel coloring is sometimes made with lactose, so be on the look out. In general, people with severe lactose issues should avoid it.
Keep in mind that “non-dairy,” unfortunately, does not necessarily mean milk-free or casein-free. The term is used by the FDA to indicate that, by weight, less than 0.5% is milk. This means that, in some cases, non-dairy foods contain as much casein as milk. So, on occasion, dairy substitutes such as margarine, soy cheeses, and Cool Whip can contain dairy. Medicines and vitamins often use casein in their production, so be sure to talk to your physician and pharmacist about any dairy issues. Chewing gum, bread, baby formula, canned tuna, chicken broth, chocolate, sour candy, vinegar-flavored chips, and coconut milk powder often contain milk ingredients. Casein is, on occasion, used to clarify wine. Whole poultry is occasionally infused with lactose. The ingredient list should specify whether it is or isn’t; all kosher poultry is lactose-free. A good guideline when one goes grocery shopping is to look for vegan and kosher products. Vegan products, by definition, will contain no animal products whatsoever, and so contamination with milk isn’t likely to occur. Kosher products are made according to stringent religious law. Any meat product marked kosher will be completely dairy-free. A word of warning, however… not all desserts marked “pareve” (meat- and dairy-free in Jewish culinary terminology) will be completely dairy-free.
Some standard substitutions in recipes are include replacing butter with Crisco, soy butter, or unsalted margarine. In baking, butter can be replaced with lard. Melted butter can be replaced with oil. For milk used as a liquid, water is quite often a perfectly adequate replacement. If milk is being used as a thickening agent, pureed tofu can be used instead. For condensed milk in baking, try mixing a little Jello vanilla pudding mix into soy milk. Certain cuisines are almost entirely dairy free: Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese and Thai food rarely use any dairy products, so any recipes from those regions are generally safe. Similarly, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, and Thai restaurants are usually safe for those avoiding dairy.
- eHow and About.com both keep dairy-free portals up
- Go Dairy Free is a general site advocating dairy-free living
- The NIH site on lactose intolerance
- Some places where casein is often found
- Dairy-Free UK is decidedly UK-specific, but still helpful to non-UK residents
- VegSource maintains a milk-free forum
- The lactose-free section of Food.com
- More recipes can be found here and here
