Top 10 Foods Highest in Lactose
Lactose is a disaccharide sugar made up of a combination of galactose and glucose. Lactose is found primarily in milk (dairy) foods.
At an early age almost everyone has the ability to digest lactose since it is an important source of energy from breastmilk. Later on in life, however, some people lose the ability to digest lactose and suffer from lactose intolerance. (1)
Symptoms of lactose intolerance include gas, diarrhea, and bloating. (1)
Foods high in lactose are those which contain milk. These include ice-cream, milk puddings, hot chocolate, eggnog, macaroni and cheese, yogurt, pancakes, milk chocolate, cottage cheese, and mashed potatoes. (2) Below are the top 10 foods highest in lactose.
List of Foods High in Lactose
1 Milk| Lactose per 16oz Glass | Lactose per 100g |
|---|---|
| 25.4g (6 tsp) | 5.2g (1.3 tsp) |
2 Soft Serve Ice-Cream Smoothie| Lactose per 12oz Cup | Lactose per 100g |
|---|---|
| 21.7g (5 tsp) | 6.2g (1.6 tsp) |
- 19g in a McDonald's McFlurry with Oreos
- 10.5g in a McDonald's hot fudge sundae
3 Dulce De Leche| Lactose per Cup | Lactose per 100g |
|---|---|
| 15g (3.7 tsp) | 4.9g (1.2 tsp) |
- 10.2g per 10oz serving of rice pudding
- 6.5g per 1/2 cup of egg custard
4 Hot Cocoa| Lactose per Cup | Lactose per 100g |
|---|---|
| 11.6g (2.9 tsp) | 4.6g (1.2 tsp) |
- 19.9g per cup of eggnog
- 7.3g in an iced mocha
5 Macaroni and Cheese| Lactose per Serving (6oz) | Lactose per 100g |
|---|---|
| 7.3g (1.8 tsp) | 4.1g (1 tsp) |
- 4.7g per serving of Cracker Barrel Mac n' Cheese
6 Low-Fat Greek Yogurt| Lactose per 7oz Container | Lactose per 100g |
|---|---|
| 5.8g (1.5 tsp) | 2.9g (0.7 tsp) |
7 Pancakes (Hot Cakes)| Lactose per 3 Pancakes | Lactose per 100g |
|---|---|
| 5.3g (1.3 tsp) | 2.4g (0.6 tsp) |
The amount of lactose will depend on the amount of milk used in the recipe.
8 Milk Chocolate (Kit-Kat Bar)| Lactose per 1.5oz Bar | Lactose per 100g |
|---|---|
| 3.4g (0.9 tsp) | 8.2g (2.1 tsp) |
9 Cottage Cheese| Lactose per 1/4cup (4oz) | Lactose per 100g |
|---|---|
| 1.8g (0.4 tsp) | 1.6g (0.4 tsp) |
Most other cheeses only contain 0.5g of lactose per 1 oz slice. (1oz = 28g of cheese)
10 Mashed Potatoes (With Milk)| Lactose per Cup | Lactose per 100g |
|---|---|
| 1.5g (0.4 tsp) | 0.7g (0.2 tsp) |
The amount of lactose will depend on the amount of milk used in the recipe.
See All 88 Foods High in Lactose
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About the Data
Data for the curated food lists comes from the USDA Food Data Central Repository.
You can check our data against the USDA by clicking the (Source) link at the bottom of each food listing.
Note: When checking data please be sure the serving sizes are the same. In the rare case you find any difference, please contact us and we will fix it right away.
From the Nutrient Ranking Tool
- Foods High in Lactose
- Foods Low in Lactose
- Vegetarian Foods High in Lactose
- Dairy High in Lactose
- Fast Foods High in Lactose
View more food groups with the nutrient ranking tool, or see ratios with the nutrient ratio tool.
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