Calcium Is Not Lactose

I just received yet another question asking whether a calcium ingredient on a food label contained lactose.

The simple answer is no. No calcium additive in any food contains any lactose.

I can only assume that the confusion comes from the fact that milk is high in calcium. Some people must think that, therefore, calcium comes from milk, and so calcium must contain lactose.

Not true. Commercial calcium is rarely derived from milk. And no calcium product, not even calcium lactate, will have any lactose at all.

Just to be on the safe side, let me mention that calcium caseinate does indeed derive from the milk protein casein. And it is something that people with serious milk allergies must avoid. However, it contains no lactose. Two different problems; two different things to watch out for.

More on lactose in calcium products on my website on the page The Experts Speak.