Lactose Free Cheese From Canada

I received an email from Pierre Gattuso of Gattuso Inc. letting me know about Biobio Certified Organic Cheese.

The best part about Biobio is not the name (sorry) but that most of the cheeses they offer are lactose free. True lactose free cow's milk cheeses. Those include:

Medium Cheddar
Extra Sharp Cheddar (aged 1 year)
Extra Sharp Cheddar (aged 3 years)
Extra Sharp Cheddar (aged 5 years)
Mozzarella
7% Cheese [low-fat]
Parmesan
Grated Parmesan

Two other cheeses contain less than 0.5% lactose:

Mild Cheddar
Swiss

How do they do that, you ask. The FAQ explains:

Q. Why are biobio cheeses either lactose-free or 99.5% lactose-free?

A. Biobio organic Cheddar and Parmesan cheeses are made with organic raw (unpasteurized) milk. The lactose normally found in milk is digested by the bacteria naturally present in raw milk and by those added to it (lactic culture) during the aging of the cheese.

The 7% and Mozzarella cheeses are also 100% lactose-free, but for a different reason. Made with pasteurized milk, the lactose is washed out with water during the cheese-making process.

The mild Cheddar and the Swiss are 99.5% lactose-free because they are not aged long enough for the lactic culture to eliminate all of the lactose.

Apparently 3 to 6 months of aging is not sufficient to remove all the lactose. It takes at least 6 to 9 months to do so. Take that, Jeffrey Steingarten.

Biobio cheese is available in stores all over Canada but seemingly not in the U.S. I don't know about their shipping policy, but here's their contact information:

GATTUSO Inc.
1100 de la Gauchetière Street West
Suite 253
Montréal, Québec H3B 2S2
Telephone: (514) 875-2222
Web Site: www.gattuso.qc.ca
Linda Deschenes, Sales Coordinator: ldeschenes@gattuso.qc.ca