Water Buffalo Milk Isn't Low Lactose Either

You'll be happy to know that I've managed to restrain myself from posting a correction each and every single time somebody promoting goat's milk makes the false statement that it's low in lactose. None of them ever say what their source might be, but not a single list of lactose percentages I've seen backs them up.

Here we go again. This time it's water buffalo milk.

Ben Muessig of the Brooklyn Paper had this quote in an article on organic food farmers.

"Water buffalo is lower in fat and cholesterol than beef, and the dairy is low in lactose," said Frank Abballe, whose company, Bufala di Vermont, sells buffalo mozzarella.

True, Mozzarella di Bufala Campana is traditional Italian cheese made by water buffalo milk.

Is the cheese low lactose? Could be. Most aged cheeses are, no matter the source of their milk. Mozzarella di bufala is not aged as other cheese but has an unusual manufacturing process, so I can't be sure of the lactose value in the final product.

But the milk itself? Check the link above. Another name for the water buffalo is the carabao and that is a percentage I give. I'll save you from bothering to click over. Carabao is 4.3% lactose. Cow's milk can range from 3.7 to 5.1% lactose, although most milk in the U.S. is around 5%. So water buffalo milk may be slightly lower in lactose but not significantly so. I certainly wouldn't call it a low lactose product.

Next animal, please.

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