Abstract
Abstract The aim of this research was to assess the consumer habits of lactose sensitive persons in case of lactose-free products and their other shopping aspects for development of new, dairy-based lactose-free products. The research was based on face-to-face questionnaire survey, and those who declared to be lactose sensitive were analysed. Among them, only half of the women (49.3%) and one third of the men (34.6%) were medically proven lactose sensitive, so more than half of the respondents declared themselves affected on the basis of self-diagnosis. Our results show that reliably regular customers of lactose-free products are women and persons with medical diagnosis, high educational degree, and under the age of 30. The lactose-free consumer group prefers the following product features: lactose-free label; rich in calcium, vitamins, and fibre, and free of carbohydrate, sugar, and gluten. Only two-thirds of lactose sensitive customers (66.7%) consume lactose-free products regularly, so it can be assumed that the level of knowledge of this disease, its treatment, and the importance of lactose-free dairy products among these persons is insufficient. This could be solved with education, advertisement, and other information opportunities.
Highlights
The concept of functional food has been defined countless times, which differs from country to country (Stanton et al, 2001; Siro et al, 2008; Bigliardi and Galati, 2013)
In the body of a lactose sensitive person, the lactase enzyme produced in the small intestine is innately absent or impaired, or it is an intestinal problem due to antibiotic treatment, which results in acute abdominal symptoms following the consumption of milk (Swallow, 2003; Lomer et al, 2007)
The sample was representative based on the 2016 microcensus of the Hungarian Central Statistical Office by age, sex, and location of habitat based on Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics (NUTS) regions (Hungarian Central Statistical Office, 2017)
Summary
The concept of functional food has been defined countless times, which differs from country to country (Stanton et al, 2001; Siro et al, 2008; Bigliardi and Galati, 2013) Those foodstuffs can be considered functional food in the European Union, which have a positive physiological impact due to their nutrient composition (Ovesen, 1997; Verhagen et al, 2010), such as lactosefree foodstuffs. In the body of a lactose sensitive person, the lactase enzyme produced in the small intestine is innately absent or impaired (primary lactose sensitivity), or it is an intestinal problem due to antibiotic treatment (secondary lactose intolerance), which results in acute abdominal symptoms following the consumption of milk (Swallow, 2003; Lomer et al, 2007). Lactose sensitivity can be treated by low or lactose-free diet, lactase enzyme replacement (Gasztonyi et al, 2018), or with the treatment of the underlying disease in the case of secondary lactose sensitivity (Gerbault et al, 2014)
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