Why I Don’t Drink Milk: Acceptability and Attitudes of Lactose Free and Conventional Cow’s Milk in a College Student Population

Objectives: This study measured University of Georgia (UGA) students' liking of various lactose free cow's milks and conventional cow's milks and assessed their attitudes toward lactose free cow's milk being served in dining halls.Methods: UGA students (n 113) participated in consumer acceptability testing of lactose free and conventional cow's milks.Participants were served 10 cow's milk samples monadically in a randomized order and asked to rate their overall liking and liking of various sensory attributes (appearance, sweetness, flavor, fattiness, mouthfeel) on a 9-point hedonic scale (1 Dislike Extremely; 9 Like Extremely).Participants also completed a survey examining their milk consumption and if lactose free cow's milk should be served in the UGA dining halls.Results: Higher fat (whole and 2%) conventional cow's milks and sweeter lactose free cow's milks were rated significantly higher than most skim milks for overall liking and all sensory attributes (p <0.05).Sweeter lactose free cow's milks (whole and 2%) were rated higher for overall liking than their conventional and non-sweet lactose free cow's milk counterparts.The sweeter skim lactose free cow's milk was also rated significantly higher compared to the skim conventional cow's milk (p < 0.05).Over 50% (60) of participants reported they would consume lactose free cow's milk either frequently or sometimes in the UGA dining halls.Additionally, 70% (79) of participants agreed lactose free cow's milk should be available in the dining halls to UGA students.Conclusions: Lactose intolerance is a barrier preventing cow's milk consumption, leading to increased demands for lactose free cow's milk in all settings including university foodservice dining.Sweeter lactose free cow's milk may benefit university dining spaces by combating lactose intolerance and increasing student consumption of nutrient dense dairy foods due to its higher acceptability.