August 24, 2022 by Natalie Alibrandi
Can Your Dairy Sensitivity Actually Change When You’re in Europe?
Nali Consulting were featured as food scientists on the website Well + Good.
We provided commentary on factors related to dairy sensitivity. Our key contributions are included below along with a link to the full article.
Publisher: Well + Good
Full Article: Real Talk: Can Your Dairy Sensitivity Actually Change When You’re in Europe?
Date first published: August 24, 2022
Food and Beverage Journalist: Alondra Segoviano, Linkedin
Image credits: Well + Good, Stocksy/Aila Images
Contributor at Nali Consulting: Natalie Alibrandi, Linkedin
Key contributions from Nali Consulting:
How dairy in Europe differs from American dairy
Among the many social posts on this trend, there’s been a hyper focus on the differences in dairy and whether or not this is the cause for changes in dairy sensitivities. For one, you may see dairy on the shelves in grocery stores versus the refrigerated section in the United States. The reason for this is due to milk pasteurization methods. “Milk is pasteurized through a process called ultra high temperature (UHT) in Europe, which kills the bacteria and can lead to a longer shelf life product without refrigeration,” explains Natalie Alibrandi, a UK-based food scientist and CEO of Nali Consulting. America, on the other hand, follows a different method called high temperature, short time (HTST), which Alibrandi says kills most bacteria in dairy, but still requires refrigeration. Despite the differences in pasteurization methods, the lactose content is the same for HTST and UHT milk.
Another notable difference between milk in America and Europe (one of which has been known to cause controversy) is the allowance of recombinant bovine growth hormone (rGBH) that some believe can negatively impact humans. The main reason being is due to the fact that Europe banned the use of rBGH, while America has not. “RBGH has been approved by the FDA since 1993, however it’s been outlawed in the EU since 1990,” says Alibrandi.
Why your dairy sensitivity may change in Europe, according to an expert
So now that we’ve touched on how European dairy differs from American dairy and how these differences probably aren’t contributing to the change in dairy sensitivities, you may be wondering what is at play.
To start, it’s important to remember that dairy can contain different levels of lactose content, depending on the level of fat in the food item. “Full-fat milk can have a lower lactose content than low-fat dairy options, so the lactose load may be more tolerable,” Alibrandi says. "Lactose-free milk is the only milk without lactose. This type of milk adds the enzyme lactase to break down lactose.” Restaurants can vary in the type of dairy used for various dishes, which can impact you differently, depending on your lactose intolerance.