Additional costs of lactose-reduced diets

Objective: People with lactose intolerance have to limit their consumption of lactose-containing dairy products which are a main source of Ca. In particular, for low-income people it is of interest which alternative diet form rich in Ca leads to the lowest additional costs. This study aims to calculate the additional costs of lactose-reduced diets and to show which of different options represent the most cost-effective alternative within a lactose-reduced diet. Design: Using linear programming, food baskets with different lactose contents were calculated and were compared to a basic model, reflecting a normal diet without a limitation of lactose. By comparing the costs and the composition of the food baskets, recommendations for a lactose-reduced diet were derived. Setting: Germany. Participants: A consumer panel dataset representative for Germany is used for the calculations. Information on prices and nutrients is derived from the 9429 adult households without children, and information on consumed food quantities from the 3046 single households. Results: The minimum additional food costs depend on the severity of lactose intolerance and range from 0·2 % to 6·1 % per month. It was found that the greatest adjustments due to lactose reduction could be observed within the dairy product group. In this group, with a rising lactose limit, normal milk was increasingly replaced by lactose-free milk. Conclusion: It was shown that a lactose-reduced diet is generally associated with higher food costs. When suffering from lactose intolerance, switching to lactose-free milk seems to be the most cost-effective way to cover nutrient requirements

Biology · Lactose · Lactose intolerance · Diet and metabolism studies · Digestive system and related health · Medicine · Nutrition, Genetics, and Disease · Food Science

• What is the cost of a healthy diet in terms of achieving RDAs

  Open Access•Piero Conforti, Amleto D'Amicis et al.•Public Health Nutrition•2000

  Add to list

• Are the lowest-cost healthful food plans culturally and socially acceptable

  Open Access•Matthieu Maillot, Nicole Darmon et al.•Public Health Nutrition•2010

  Add to list

• Do economic constraints encourage the selection of energy dense diets

  Open Access•Nicole Darmon, Elaine L Ferguson et al.•Appetite•2003

  Add to list