Other and lactose: 82 foods rated

This IS lactose. Whether it comes from milk or is added as a purified powder makes no difference to someone short of lactase - it is the same sugar, listed here in its concentrated form. Tolerance is dose-dependent: EFSA puts the amount most lactose-intolerant people handle in one sitting at around 12 g. Two things go with that 12 g, and they matter more than the number: EFSA could set NO single threshold that fits everyone, and some people react below 6 g. It is an opinion on TOLERANCE, not on composition - it gives no lactose value for any food, and it cannot declare a given serving safe for a given person.

• EFSA Panel on Dietetic Products, Nutrition and Allergies, EFSA Journal 8(9):1777 (2010), Scientific Opinion on lactose thresholds, for the tolerance figures

Milk chocolate: milk powder is the source here — roughly 5-9 g per 100 g. Portions are small, so a square or two often passes where a glass of milk would not.

• Schweizer Nährwertdatenbank v6.3 (2021), Bundesamt für Lebensmittelsicherheit, consulted as a third lactose reading

White chocolate is cocoa butter, sugar and milk powder with no cocoa solids to dilute it, which makes it the most lactose-rich chocolate — around 9 g per 100 g.

• Schweizer Nährwertdatenbank v6.3 (2021), Bundesamt für Lebensmittelsicherheit, consulted as a third lactose reading

A bouillon cube uses lactose as a carrier - a cheap, free-flowing powder to hold the salt, fat and flavourings together in a pressed block. It is a small dose in a cube that makes half a litre, but it is there, and it is not obvious from the name.

• Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011, Annex II, which requires milk to be declared as an allergen
• USDA FoodData Central
• Schweizer Nährwertdatenbank v6.3 (2021), Bundesamt für Lebensmittelsicherheit, consulted as a third lactose reading

Breadcrumbs carry whatever the bread carried, and enriched breads - brioche, milk bread, most burger buns - are made with milk. Panko is the exception worth knowing: it is made from a crustless white bread that is usually dairy-free.

• Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011, Annex II, which requires milk to be declared as an allergen
• USDA FoodData Central
• Schweizer Nährwertdatenbank v6.3 (2021), Bundesamt für Lebensmittelsicherheit, consulted as a third lactose reading

Chocolate as a plain word covers a bar that is a third milk powder and one that is none, and the lactose follows that entirely. White chocolate is the highest of the three types, milk chocolate next, dark the lowest - the cocoa percentage on the front is an inverse guide to the dairy inside.

• Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011, Annex II, which requires milk to be declared as an allergen
• USDA FoodData Central
• Schweizer Nährwertdatenbank v6.3 (2021), Bundesamt für Lebensmittelsicherheit, consulted as a third lactose reading

Chocolate chips are formulated to hold their shape in an oven, which usually means less cocoa butter and more milk solids and sugar than a bar of the same colour. A 'dark' chip is often closer to a milk chocolate in composition than its colour suggests.

• Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011, Annex II, which requires milk to be declared as an allergen
• USDA FoodData Central
• Schweizer Nährwertdatenbank v6.3 (2021), Bundesamt für Lebensmittelsicherheit, consulted as a third lactose reading

A croissant does not hide its dairy - it is made of it. Butter is most of the recipe by reputation, but butter is nearly all fat and carries very little lactose; the milk in the dough is where the sugar actually is.

• Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011, Annex II, which requires milk to be declared as an allergen
• USDA FoodData Central
• Schweizer Nährwertdatenbank v6.3 (2021), Bundesamt für Lebensmittelsicherheit, consulted as a third lactose reading

Dark chocolate carries milk more often than its name suggests, for two different reasons worth separating. Some recipes include a little milk fat outright, in which case the ingredient list says so, because milk must be declared. The rest is shared machinery: most dark chocolate is made on lines that also run milk chocolate, which is where the 'may contain milk' on an 85 per cent bar comes from. Either way the lactose is in the milk solids rather than the fat, so the amount is small.

• Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011, Annex II, which requires milk to be declared as an allergen
• USDA FoodData Central
• Schweizer Nährwertdatenbank v6.3 (2021), Bundesamt für Lebensmittelsicherheit, consulted as a third lactose reading

Gluten-free bread uses milk powder or whey protein for the job gluten used to do - holding the crumb together and browning the crust. That makes dairy far commoner in gluten-free bakery than in ordinary bread, which is the opposite of what most people assume.

• Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011, Annex II, which requires milk to be declared as an allergen
• USDA FoodData Central
• Schweizer Nährwertdatenbank v6.3 (2021), Bundesamt für Lebensmittelsicherheit, consulted as a third lactose reading

Hazelnut spread names its dairy openly: skimmed milk powder is usually the third or fourth ingredient, above the hazelnuts in some brands. It is one of the few products where reading the order of the list tells you more than reading the name.

• Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011, Annex II, which requires milk to be declared as an allergen
• USDA FoodData Central
• Schweizer Nährwertdatenbank v6.3 (2021), Bundesamt für Lebensmittelsicherheit, consulted as a third lactose reading

Pesto does not hide dairy either - pecorino or parmesan is in the recipe by definition, and both are aged cheeses with almost no lactose left. The dairy-free versions exist and taste different; the standard one is low here for the same reason a hard cheese is.

• Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011, Annex II, which requires milk to be declared as an allergen
• USDA FoodData Central
• Schweizer Nährwertdatenbank v6.3 (2021), Bundesamt für Lebensmittelsicherheit, consulted as a third lactose reading