Answers to Common Kashrut Questions

These days many companies have become very conscious about people who are intolerant to lactose. Being lactose intolerant means that the body does not contain enough of the enzyme lactase to break down lactose, the sugar found in milk, to glucose. Intolerance levels vary so that some people can have a full glass of milk and no more, while others cannot even have a product that was made in a factory where dairy was present. Dairy can be present for several reasons including traces from previous dairy productions left on machinery or equipment; this can be present even after cleaning or koshering. There can also be ‘dairy dust’ in the air which could settle in extremely small amounts on equipment or ingredients which are to be used for the parev production. Food manufacturers cannot afford to be responsible for someone having an allergic reaction, so under these circumstances, they will often state that a product may contain milk. 

According to Jewish law, these ‘traces’ have no significance and the final product will be considered parev.