Top 10 Foods Highest in Lactose

Written by Daisy Whitbread, BSc (Hons) MSc DipIONPowered by USDA Nutrition Data

Last Updated: April 21st, 2022

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.

Table of Contents

Introduction
List of Foods High in Lactose
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About the Data
Nutrient Ranking Tool
Related
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References

List of Foods High in Lactose

#1: Milk

Up to 5.2% Lactose

Lactose per 16oz Glass	Lactose per 100g
25.4g (6 tsp)	5.2g (1.3 tsp)

Nutrition Facts for Low-Fat Milk 1%. (Source)

#2: Soft Serve Ice-Cream Smoothie

Up to 6.2% Lactose

Lactose per 12oz Cup	Lactose per 100g
21.7g (5 tsp)	6.2g (1.6 tsp)

Nutrition Facts for Soft Serve Blended With Chocolate Candy. (Source)

19g in a McDonald's McFlurry with Oreos
10.5g in a McDonald's hot fudge sundae

#3: Dulce De Leche

Up to 4.9% Lactose

Lactose per Cup	Lactose per 100g
15g (3.7 tsp)	4.9g (1.2 tsp)

Nutrition Facts for Dulce De Leche. (Source)

10.2g per 10oz serving of rice pudding
6.5g per 1/2 cup of egg custard

#4: Hot Cocoa

Up to 4.6% Lactose

Lactose per Cup	Lactose per 100g
11.6g (2.9 tsp)	4.6g (1.2 tsp)

Nutrition Facts for Hot Cocoa. (Source)

19.9g per cup of eggnog
7.3g in an iced mocha

#5: Macaroni and Cheese

Up to 4.1% Lactose

Lactose per Serving (6oz)	Lactose per 100g
7.3g (1.8 tsp)	4.1g (1 tsp)

Nutrition Facts for Dennys Macaroni & Cheese From Kids Menu. (Source)

4.7g per serving of Cracker Barrel Mac n' Cheese

#6: Low-Fat Greek Yogurt

Up to 2.9% Lactose

Lactose per 7oz Container	Lactose per 100g
5.8g (1.5 tsp)	2.9g (0.7 tsp)

Nutrition Facts for Lowfat Greek Yogurt. (Source)

#7: Pancakes (Hot Cakes)

Up to 2.4% Lactose

Lactose per 3 Pancakes	Lactose per 100g
5.3g (1.3 tsp)	2.4g (0.6 tsp)

Nutrition Facts for McDonalds Pancakes. (Source)

The amount of lactose will depend on the amount of milk used in the recipe.

#8: Milk Chocolate (Kit-Kat Bar)

Up to 8.2% Lactose

Lactose per 1.5oz Bar	Lactose per 100g
3.4g (0.9 tsp)	8.2g (2.1 tsp)

Nutrition Facts for Kit Kat Wafer Bar. (Source)

#9: Cottage Cheese

Up to 1.6% Lactose

Lactose per 1/4cup (4oz)	Lactose per 100g
1.8g (0.4 tsp)	1.6g (0.4 tsp)

Nutrition Facts for Nonfat Cottage Cheese. (Source)

Most other cheeses only contain 0.5g of lactose per 1 oz slice. (1oz = 28g of cheese)

#10: Mashed Potatoes (With Milk)

Up to 0.7% Lactose

Lactose per Cup	Lactose per 100g
1.5g (0.4 tsp)	0.7g (0.2 tsp)

Nutrition Facts for Homemade Mashed Potatoes With Milk And Butter. (Source)

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.

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