How come imported Finlandia cheeses are lactose free?
There are no international regulations to determine “lactose free”. Valio Ltd (the parent company of Finlandia Cheese) is using a “lactose free” claim, when lactose cannot be found in the product (f. ex. cheese). Valio is using the best possible method (ion chromatographic method) to analyze lactose. The resolution for the method is 0.01%, which means that we can find 100 ppm (parts per million) of lactose from cheese. So, when we are referring to cheese as lactose free, it contains less than 100 ppm lactose. Sometimes it is possible to find very small amounts (100-200 ppm) of lactose from havarti type cheese. For example, normal semi skimmed pasteurized milk contains about 5% of lactose (50000 ppm). The statement below explains the microbiological phenomenon that causes imported Finlandia Cheeses to be lactose free. Traces of lactose may be found in Havarti cheese, but levels are well below the limit accepted for a lactose-free claim. Finlandia Imported Swiss cheese is manufactured fr
