Wikipedia has a nice article about Lactose Intolerance, including the part titled “Lactase Persistence”, which discusses the fact that amongst all the mammals, it’s very abnormal to actually still be lactose tolerant well past the childhood, where only certain human populations do not lose the ability to produce lactase to digest lactose as they age (in other words, lactose intolerance, on the other hand, is absolutely normal).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lactose_intolerance
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lactose_intolerance#Lactase_persistence
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lactase_persistence

In light of that, I find it quite distressing that in this day and age, the USFDA labelling requirements seem to have absolutely no mentions or regulations regarding the lactose content of the products. Why are the Fats always itemised, and even Fibre is oftentimes itemised for Soluble and Insoluble, whereas the Sugars are never so itemised?

http://www.fda.gov/forconsumers/consumerupdates/ucm094550.htm

http://www.fda.gov/Food/GuidanceComplianceRegulatoryInformation/GuidanceDocuments/FoodLabelingNutrition/FoodLabelingGuide/default.htm

And many people working in the food industry likewise have little understanding that lactose intolerance is not like an allergy or anything, and that people may merely be interested in ensuring that they’re not up to the consumption of noticeable amounts of lactose, but couldn’t care less about trace or insignificant amounts.

Still, I find it disenchanting that noone seems to be caring, even with all the research, and even with all the regulation opportunities.

For example, if the FDA labelling says that the product contains milk, as part of the Food Allergen Labelling requirements from FALCPA 2004, how is one supposed to know, without delving deep into the ingredients list, whether it has merely milk proteins without any lactose content, or whether noticeable amounts of lactose are still there? And to be fair, would milk proteins have lactose, or would they not? I’m not a biologist, for Christ’s sake, and although LI, as FDA points out, is not “life-threatening” as a milk allergy could be, it’s still a major discomfort (that stomach pain can be very unbearable) that’s very prevalent amongst a very considerable chunk of the population, so it’s striking to see no efforts being made about clear identification of the lactose content.

Even if you’re not the one who’s lactose intolerant, or even if you’ve mastered out all the labelling nuances and sources of lactose in the interest of being a pro at avoiding non-trace amounts of lactose, there’s still a considerable benefit to the appropriate lactose labelling for the population at large. For nothing else, it’ll be one step further into saving you from having to smell someone’s flatulence in a room full of people, many of whom may be clueless about their lactose intolerance or the fact that certain items contain noticeable amounts of lactose.