Lactose free sour cream and cream cheese?

[Mezzaluna]

I have a friend whose son is very lactose-intolerant. My friend would like to make recipes for him that require sour cream and/or cream cheese (my rugelach recipe, for instance- it has 2 cups of sour cream).

I know aged cheese has little, if any residual lactase, but what about sour cream and cream cheese? Does anyone make lactose-free sour cream or cream cheese, or is he doomed to use soy products??? (He doesn't like soy....)

Thanks!
Mezzaluna

[kuan]

Look for all natural sour cream with live cultures. The fake type with all other kinds of added sour flavors and stabilizers might contain residual lactose. It's the culturing process that breaks down the lactose. So, naturally done. And of course he might do like me and you and just keep lactaid allover the place.

[Mezzaluna]

Kuan, so in the process of making natural sour cream, the lactose is "tamed" (for lack of a better word) as in aged cheese?

Any suggestions for cream cheese?

[kuan]

I don't exactly know how cream cheese is made, gotta check on that.

The lactose that used to be in sour cream was actually used by the bacteria and broken down so it's not lactose anymore.

[OregonYeti]

I have read more than once that yogurt is much better for lactose-intolerant people than most other milk products. I don't know that myself for sure.

If you do use yogurt for cooking, use plain whole-milk Russian or Bulgarian style--tasty! That's as close as I can find to the yogurt I grew up with in India. If you want it thicker like sour cream, put it in a cheesecloth and let it drain some. The whey that drains off is kind of sour, and the more that drains off, the less sour the remaining part is. If you let it drain for 8 hours or so, you get "yogurt cream cheese" .

[Luc_H]

Hi Mezzaluna,

I found this reference (I don't know how reliable)
lactose

quote:
Summary of Safe Milk Products.

• Lactase treated milk
• Natural yoghurt, preferably one with live culture
• Aged, fermented cheeses
• Dry cottage cheese
• Cultured sour cream
• Cultured buttermilk
• Cultured butter

the following site is a great reference to get detailed nutritional info on all kinds of foods:
NutritionData.com NutritionData's Nutrition Facts Calorie Counter

lactose is inconclusive for cultured sour cream (although the total sugar, that includes lactose, level is only 0.2% or 0.2g/100g):
Nutrition Facts and Analysis for Cream, sour, cultured
compared to imitation cultured sour cream which has 6.6% sugars, mostly lactose. 33 times more then cultured.
http://www.nutritiondata.com/facts-C00001-01c2014.html

Lactose is an intolerance not an allergy. Little amounts will not cause discomfort.

I hope this helps?
Luc

[Littlemama]

if you care to make the cream cheese yourself, the bacteria that occurs naturally in the short aging process consumes the lactose and changes it's chemical signature....(for lack of a better term) so like kuan said, it is not lactose any more.....If you do not make your own...look for organic, all natural or made with raw milk. that should be a better product for your friend to digest.

I am lactose intolerant and the only products I can consume are the items made with the raw milk....this helps because of the natural enzymes that are ussually destroyed during pasturization.

[OregonYeti]

Heh Louis Pasture invented pasturization. Typical thing for a dairy farmer to say lol

[Littlemama]

yes yes ,I know. and that was a very good invention. no dis'in the process or the man.....

but much can be said for the value of raw milk

[OregonYeti]

I was playing with words there, pasteurization vs pasturization. Thank you for your beans and rice suggestions!

[Littlemama]

oopps, my bad.......that was cute...funny funny,.....(forgive me for missing that will you) brother you can tell I am tired.

you are welcomed on the beans and rice....anytime,,,.

[Luc_H]

Hi Littlemama,
I am apologetic of what I will say beforehand because I may offend you for saying the following:
If you do not react to raw milk but to pasteurized milk, it is not because you are lactose intolerant but you probably have something else.

Raw milk (i.e unpasteurized milk) does not contain enzymes but rather milk loving bacteria which will eat the lactose and covert it to lactic acid (sour taste). If you consume your raw milk a little on the sour side then it's possible the lactose is all gone. Any cultured product be it from raw or pasteurized milk are made by adding bacterial cultures that eat the lactose.

Raw milk and pasteurized milk have the same amount of lactose (more or less depending on fat content). Even human breast milk is very high in lactose which is an essential nutrient for an infant's brain development.

Grant you, I believe raw milk is more easily digestible and that pasteurized milk proteins are remarkably altered because of the pasteurizing process.

Our human evolution, like all other mammals, has made us capable of digesting lactose only in the first years of life then we are meant to lose that ability because it becomes useless. On earth there are more people that are lactose intolerant (normal) then people capable of eating milk.

As Kuan mentionned... <cultured> dairy is key to reducing lactose not organic. From a reputable company, organic or not, even better.

Don't get me wrong, I also think raw milk (if handled properly) is superior then pasteurized milk. Raw milk from pastured cows (if handled properly) is by far superior!

(my post are always too long but if somebody asks about details for lactose, composition, brain development etc.. I will gladly answer)

Luc H.

[Littlemama]

my bad........I guess just because I own dairy cows does not mean I know everything there is to know about the milk I get from the cows,

I may not know everything there is to know about the particulars about the raw milk.......but I do know that it is easier to digest...for whatever reason....and It does not make me sick like the store bought milk.

ALL THE DOCTORS I HAVE EVER BEEN TO HAVE TOLD ME THAT I AM LACTOSE INTOLERANT. now I have no idea what is wrong with me.

[Luc_H]

Littlemama....
I wish I could purchase raw milk but I can't (illegal here).

Many studies have shown that raw milk can apparently be digested by infants diagnosed with milk allergies (not lactose intolerance). Maybe there lies the difference for you.

From where I sit, you are better off then most of us to be able to consume raw milk.

Luc

[OregonYeti]

Good save, Luc (I hope). After visiting France and tasting some of their cheese, I wonder if their disregard to Louis Pasteur made their cheeses better than ours in some way.