Following the recent TV promotion of LactoFree, I became intrigued – firstly, how can the milk be cows milk and be lactose free? And secondly, will my body react to it as it usually does to cows milk? Armed with plenty of curiosity, I have carried out a mini investigation comparing LactoFree and soya milk – a fussy foodie favourite!
How can the milk be cows milk and be lactose free….?
To answer that question, my first port of call was the LactoFree website, www.lactofree.co.uk. This states the milk becomes lactose free by filtering out the lactose then applying a lactase enzyme. After this process, tests detect a lactose content of 0.03%, which as per UK guidelines is classed as lactose free.
My thoughts then turned to the actual product:
- how does the nutritional value of LactoFree compare to that of soya milk?
- how does LactoFree taste and how will my body react?
For my investigation, I chose to compare the following three products:
- Alpro Unsweetened Soya Milk – branded variety
- Sainsbury’s Unsweetened Soya Milk – my chosen variety of soya milk, based on taste & price
- LactoFree Semi Skimmed – I felt this would be the more popular LactoFree choice
LactoFree – Nutrition: The Facts
Nutritional Value per 100ml
|
Alpro Unsweetened Soya | Sainsburys Basics Unsweetened Soya |
Lactofree Long Life
Semi-Skimmed |
Energy | 134 kJ | 155 kJ | 269 kJ |
Protein | 3.7g | 3.3g | 3.4g |
Carbohydrate | 0.1g | 2.1g | 2.6g |
of which sugars | 0.1g | 1.0g | 2.6g |
of which lactose | Nil | Nil | Nil |
Fat | 2.2g | 1.7g | 1.7g |
of which saturates | 0.4g | 0.3g | 1.1g |
of which monounsaturates | 0.5g | 0.4g | 0.5g |
of which polyunsaturates | 1.3g | 1.0g | Trace |
Fibre | 0.6g | 0.2g | Nil |
Sodium | 0.01g | 0.04g | |
equivalent as salt | 0.01g | < 0.1g | 0.11g |
As you can see from the table, there are swings and roundabouts between the nutritional values of each product. Choosing the right product for you would be down to deciding which of the nutritional values are most important to you. After carrying out this comparison, I personally feel very reassured by my preference for Sainsburys Unsweetened Soya Milk.
LactoFree – The Taste & Tolerance Test
I felt slightly nervous about this section of my investigation as I was really unsure about how my body would react. It took me a while to pluck up the courage but for the sake of satisfying my curiosity I took the plunge and drank a glass of LactoFree….!
Taste…the results of the taste test are shown below:
Testers | Verdict | |
Claire | Awful and left a sour after taste | |
Michelle | Like cows milk just slightly creamier | |
Margaret | Tastes like sterilized milk |
Tolerance…I can tell within 15 minutes if I have eaten foods containing dairy, and so after drinking a glass of LactoFree I waited very gingerly to see what would happen. To my relief, I was absolutely fine! Aside from a funny taste in my throat and mouth, I suffered no reaction at all to drinking LactoFree, I was amazed.
I haven’t had cows milk for nearly 7 years now and I can definitely say I have lost the taste for it so I will happily stick to soya. However, the results of my mini investigation show that if you are used to the taste of cows milk but are looking to avoid lactose, then LactoFree could be a winner and so is definitely worth a try!
Note – there are alternative brands of soya available, the 2 chosen for this purpose are ones I am familiar with. There are also lactose free alternatives to soya & LactoFree, including rice milk and oat milk.
2 Comments
Miranda
February 4, 2009 at 12:33 pmFantastic posting! Its’s weird how that when you stop drinking mik just the smell makes me feel a little sick. Soya for me rocks and after the Lacto Free experiement will definatly be sticking to Soya Milk.
Em
November 11, 2011 at 10:03 amThank you for posting this – very helpful. I used to drink soya milk until I read all the bad press about it and have been put off. Now trying to find a suitable alternative. Maybe I will try this.