EFSA looks into lactose tolerance thresholds

The European Food Safety Authority's (EFSA) panel on dietetic products, nutrition and allergies (NDA) was requested by the European Commission to deliver a Scientific Opinion on lactose thresholds in lactose intolerance and galactosaemia. Their report is now available for download.

Lactose intolerance is not a true food allergy but a condition caused by a deficiency of the enzyme lactase in the digestive system. It generally has a very low prevalence in young children and remains low into early adulthood among individuals of Northern European descent. The NDA Panel report that from the limited data available for children, it appears that both adults and children with lactose intolerance have similar thresholds and similar variability in individual sensitivity.

While the vast majority of subjects with lactose maldigestion will tolerate up to 12 g of lactose as a single dose with no or minor symptoms, symptoms of lactose intolerance have been described after intake of less than 6 g of lactose in some subjects. Because of this great variation in individual tolerances, the NDA Panel was not able to determine a single threshold of lactose for all people with lactose intolerance.

Download the report from the EFSA website.