Shelf-Stable Lactose-Free Milk

You want lactose-free milk? My big local supermarket has six full shelves of different brands, types, and varieties of lactose-free milk. And that's separate from the lactose-free coffee creamer section. I remember the days when there weren't six containers of lactose-free milk lined up next to one another. (Just for comparison I went over and counted the shelves of regular milk. 30. One-sixth of all the milk in the store is lactose-free. You might also just stop a second and think about a single store having 36 shelves - more than seven head-high cases - of milk. Wen I grew up I lived down the street from a dairy and I don't think their working capacity could fill 36 shelves. We're a rich, rich country.)

But can I still complain? (Answer: yes. We're a rich, rich country.)

I received this cheery plea for help in an email.

Hi! My baby (16 months) is lactose intolerant. Is there such a thing as shelf-stable / single serve lactose free milk, or powdered lactose free milk in the United States (or Canada, so that I can order). It is impossible to travel without such a product, because he does not like soy milk nor infant formula. I appreciate any help. Thank you!

My huge, big, wonderful, easy-to-get-to supermarket is of absolutely no help to this mother. No lactose-free powdered milk. No shelf-stable lactose-free milk. All those choices and a basic product that would be of great use to ordinary people is missing.

And it's not the store's fault. There's none for them to sell.

As far as I can tell, nobody in North America sells lactose-free powdered milk. I ran an item about the Finnish giant Valio and the lactose-free milk powder it introduced in an European trade show, but that's a wholesale product aimed at bakeries and the like.

Shelf-stable milk is also extremely hard to find in the U.S. Lactose-free shelf stable milk?

I can find one company that makes any. Borden. A giant milk producer in it's own right, Borden sells lactose-free milk in a shelf-stable package. But only a swath of southern states from Florida to New Mexico. Apparently the cows on based on oil rigs floating in the Gulf of Mexico.

Internet sales? No. What I found was a phone number to call on this web order page.

The good news. It comes in whole, 2% low-fat, and fat-free varieties.

The bad news. The containers are 32 ounces each. And sold in pallets of twelve containers. That's a lot of milk, even for something that's shelf-stable and so will last until the next Y2K. (That's a joke. It'll stay fresh for months, however.)

You can try contacting Borden to see if you as a consumer can buy smaller quantities. There is additional contact information on this Borden page.

To contact us:

email: borden@shelfstablemilk.com

Borden Shelf Stable Milk Products are distributed by:

Diversified Foods, Inc
3115 6th Street
Metairie, LA 70002 U.S.A.

Phone: 504-831-6651
Fax: 504-831-8288
www.diversifiedfoods.com

Milk companies. Get cracking. We need a few more lactose-free milk products.

Travelers. You can thank me for lowering the number of fussy babies on trips. The tip jar is on the right.