To think that lactose free products taste different?

[LactoseTolerant]

Different to their lactose containing dairy products i mean. Dd is lactose intolerant so we have tried lactose free milk, lactose free cheese, lactose free butter and lactose free cream. Dh claims they taste exactly the same. Dd says she isn't keen on them. she used to love the lactose equivalents and misses them, which is why we have been looking at alternatives.

I find the lactose free stuff revolting. I actually gagged while having a dish made with the cream today and I can't get myself to taste the cheese.

Thing is I dont know if I'm making it up. I think maybe im prejudiced beczhse vegan cheese is so disgusting. I can't even out ky finger on why the lactose free stuff disgusts me so much or how it tastes different. Dh claims they taste exactly the same and it's better for dd to have that than the soya or oat dairy alternatives, which are highly processed. I agree but I find them so revolting that I dont want to ask dd to have them.

Has anyone tried them? What do you think?

Yabu: they taste exactly thr same as dairy with lactose

Yanbu: they taste different and are too disgusting to eat.

DH drinks lactose free milk. We don't get through that much milk at home, so now just buy lactose free and it tastes the same to me. We haven't tried cheese, cream etc. I agree with you that vegan cheese is awful.

We always buy the lactofree milk as it’s less sweet, normal milk definitely has a different taste - kind of yeastier. Not tried any other lactofree products

I have lacto-free milk. I cant tell the difference.

I love the lacto-free whole milk. Tastes so much better in coffee and it's lower in carbs/sugar. The long life one does have a different taste but I don't mind that either.
Never tried the cheese because I don't actually need lactose free products but anyway - don't fuck with cheese!

I have lactose free milk and can tell it's a bit different if I had normal milk along side it. But day-to-day I don't notice. I can't taste any different for lactose free soft cheese or lactose free yoghurt. And lactose free stuff works fine in baking and cooking. I know you say you're not keen, but why not let your daughter try various dairy free alternatives eg oat milk, soya milk, soya yoghurt etc to see which she prefers?

Lactose free dairy products taste a little sweeter due to the added lactase.

DH is pretty happy with lactose free cheese, milk (only used in cooking) and cream.

I'll happily use the milk if required. Can't tell the difference in e.g. yorkshire pudding / pancakes / toad in the hole (just realised that's all pretty much the same recipie!)
Cheese seems OK - we separate cheese containing dishes due to cost.

I don't eat cream of either type!

I can well imagine they do taste different. But compared to the vegan options DH first tried, lactose free is blissful, and none of us are bothered if she ends up in our traditional dish. We absolutely did mind if we ended up with vegan cheese!!

Do you realise most of the lactose free products just have added lactase? The cheese isn’t vegan, it’s normal cheese with the lactase enzyme added for people who can’t handle much lactose. Lots of children’s yoghurts have added lactase too. Bodies should produce enough lactase to cope with most dairy products but for some of us that isn’t the case.

I haven't the best palette, but can taste lactose a million miles off, or any dairy product in chocolate, beer or whatever and it's absolutely revolting after a period of not eating or drinking it.

She has tried loads. She is ok with a particular soya milk alternative and a particular margarine. Neither particularly healthy which is why dh prefers her to have rhr lactose free stuff.

It's weird but because I find it so disgusting (and I'm not a fussy eater at all normally) I struggle to serve it to her (especially because she has said that it's not great) and I don't want to put it into food we all eat. But then she hasn't said that ahe hates it or that it is inedible (like vegan cheese).

I know this doesn't sound like a big deal but she is quite severely underweight and has very poor appetite so I think she can do with the calories in dairy but I dont want to insist on her eating something that most people would find disgusting.

You need to make sure you get a lactose free milk that is fresh milk rather than one that contains reconstituted milk. The reconstituted ones are IMO awful, the fresh milk I found were fine, similar enough to not notice unless doing a side by side taste test.

The cheese is just a bit meh, not awful but not particularly exciting.

I’ve not tried any of the creams.

Taste the difference, yes. Is it unpleasant? No. Has your daughter seen your reaction?

It would be far better for her to consume the lactose free products than margarine or soya, if she is able to digest them. Coconut products are good although they taste very different. One of mine used to drink rice milk, nothing else passed the taste test, but they were eventually able to eat/drink lactose free products.

Yes, of course i know that. I'm not an idiot. 😊This is why I'm surprised that I hate it so much when I normally love dairy.

When I say vegan cheese i mean vegan cheese (a dairy free alternative made from something that isn't dairy) and not lactose free cheese. I didn't try the lactose free cheese. Somehow I just can't get myself to try it.

I wonder if the lactase in it starts breaking it down and that's why it tastes rotten to me. Normally lactose would be broken down in your stomach by the lactase that your body produces but here that process happens before you eat it so you can taste it. Or am I imagining it?

I assume the best is to keep letting dd try it without prejudicing her but I feel so sorry for her having to have this stuff when she could have margarine or that one brand of soya milk she is OK with. She has it every day though so that's not great.

I know. That's why dh wants her to have the lactose free stuff rather than highly processed margarine or highly sweetened soya milk.

I don't think she has seen my reaction. I'd be happy for her to have it if she liked it or didn't mind it. She doesn't seem to hate it but because she has such a bad aversion to eating I'm keen for her to have things that she likes or might like after trying it a few times. I'm trying to gauge here how likely it is that she can get used to the taste.

I used to present food without mentioning that it contained x, y or z. Most of the time it will go under the radar that way. Thankfully I no longer have to think about it but it sounds like you could potentially prejudice her without realising it. Just make something with the cheese/milk/whatever and serve it up. Don’t comment on it. I think you’re overthinking it because of your own reaction.

I was diagnosed as lactose intolerant in 2002, so when Lactofree products came out relatively recently, I jumped on them. I don’t notice the difference. I have the milk in tea & coffee, eat the yoghurt with fruit, have the cream on loads of things & in coffee, have the soft cheese on toast & use the hard cheese in cooking. They’re a Godsend in my opinion. I did notice that Aldi’s lactose free milk wasn’t as nice, but the brand Lactofree products are all good.

Lactose intolerant here.
I buy real dairy/cow's milk lactose-free milk/cream/cheese/cream cheese. My only criticism is that the cheese doesn't melt as nicely, but taste is the same.

I can’t tell the difference. What you can get these days has vastly improved. Just to mention, hard cheeses like cheddar don’t have lactose in them, or not much anyway. I like the alpro soya yoghurts.,

Iv a dc who just moved over to oat milk as his choice of milk and soya yogurts.

His body can cope with normal mature cheddar I think because its naturally low in lactose.

You can get Unsweetened soya milk and oat milk. Has less sugar than cows milk

According to Google butter has very low levels of lactose due to churning process

Dd has parmesan which is supposed to be virtually lactose free and doesn't seem to bother her. I'd like to do a trial with cheddar but other types of cheese like mozzarella or halloumi do seem to give her problems even in small quantities.

The only dairy free milk alternative she will accept is alpro growing up milk.

If most people can't make out the difference in taste then I guess I'm being just unreasonable and prejudiced and dont have to feel so bad about giving it to dd. Thanks everyone.

The only thing I don't like is the UHT lacto free milk. Be careful as they sell this in the fridge in Asda and aldi which made me think it was fresh milk. It's horrible. Tesco and Lidl sell fresh lacto free milk which is 100% better, both DH and I use it on a daily basis in cereal, cooking etc.

The other option which I haven't researched yet for myself. A friend said you can buy lactase tablets to take with meals. Not sure if this is safe/recommend but it's what she does.

Yes, they taste very different to me. Gross.