IMPORTANT NOTICE ABOUT COMMENTS

COMMENTS HAVE BEEN DISABLED

Because of spam, I personally moderate all comments left on my blog. However, because of health issues, I will not be able to do so in the future.

If you have a personal question about LI or any related topic you can send me an email at stevecarper@cs.com. I will try to respond.

Otherwise, this blog is now a legacy site, meaning that I am not updating it any longer. The basic information about LI is still sound. However, product information and weblinks may be out of date.

In addition, my old website, Planet Lactose, has been taken down because of the age of the information. Unfortunately, that means links to the site on this blog will no longer work.

For quick offline reference, you can purchase Planet Lactose: The Best of the Blog as an ebook on Amazon.com or BarnesandNoble.com. Almost 100,000 words on LI, allergies, milk products, milk-free products, and the genetics of intolerance, along with large helpings of the weirdness that is the Net.

Wednesday, July 06, 2005

Finlandia Lactose-Free Cheese

The good people over at Valio Ltd. make lactose-free Finlandia Cheese, imported from Finland.

They even go so far as to explain their process:

The statement below explains the microbiological phenomenon that causes Finlandia Cheeses to be lactose free. Traces of lactose may be found in Havarti cheese, but levels are well below the limit accepted for a lactose-free claim.
    Finlandia Swiss cheese is manufactured from milk which is coagulated by heat and microbial rennet. After coagulation the cheese is fermented with a souring agent containing lactobacilli, Streptococcus thermophilus and propionic acid bacteria. Within 24 hours, these bacteria break down the lactose into galactose and glucose. These are fermented further to lactic acid. Lactic acid is then fermented to acetic acid, propionic acid and carbon dioxide so that Finlandia Swiss does not contain lactose or any other carbohydrates.

    Finlandia Muenster, Gouda and Havarti cheeses are manufactured from milk which is coagulated by heat and microbial rennet. After coagulation the cheeses are fermented with a souring agent containing lactococci and lactobacilli. Within 24 hours, these bacteria break down the lactose into galactose and glucose. These are fermented further to lactic acid. Therefore these Finlandia cheeses do not contain lactose or any other carbohydrates.

    There are no international regulations to determine "lactose free". Valio Ltd is using "lactose free"- claim, when lactose cannot be found in the product (f. ex. cheese). Valio is using the best possible method (ion chromatographic method) to analyze lactose. The resolution for the method is 0,01%, which means that we can find 100 ppm (parts per million) of lactose from cheese. So, when we are calling cheese as lactose free, it contains less than 100 ppm lactose. Sometimes it is possible to find very small amounts (100 -200 ppm) of lactose from havarti type cheese. For example, normal semi skimmed pasteurized milk contains about 5% of lactose (50000 ppm).


The cheese page gives the varieties. The Swiss comes in regular and light, with 50% less fat; there's regular Muenster and Oltermanni Baby Muenster; the Sandwich Naturals are available in Muenster, Finlandia Swiss, Oltermanni, Heavenly Light Swiss, Havarti, and Gouda; and the Finlandia Naturals Deli Sticks in Muenster, Finlandia Swiss, Heavenly Light Swiss, Havarti, and Gouda.

Since the Viola and Lappi are not mentioned in the lactose free section, I would assume that they're made with a different process.

Bookmark and Share

No comments: