Abstract
The consumption of lactose-free products and in particular lactose-free milk is increasing worldwide. Although many studies claim that this dietary trend is mainly determined by the number of lactose intolerant people that is growing, others state that most of them self-report an intolerance that has not been diagnosed by medical tests. However, many researchers reported that the consumption of lactose-free milk may put the consumers' health at risk especially when the subjects are not intolerant. Consequently, understanding this new dietary trend considering its main determinants it is necessary to generate educational and intervention campaigns useful to guide people toward healthier and more adequate eating styles. For these reasons we conducted a narrative mini review to summarize the factors contributing to the consumption of lactose-free milk as an alternative to cow's milk, exploring intrinsic and extrinsic product characteristics, biological and physiological, as well as psychological, situational and socio-cultural factors. This narrative mini-review shows that there are six categories of factors that affect the consumption of lactose-free milk. In particular, the intrinsic aspects linked to the product and the socio-demographic characteristics of the consumer are the most explored. On the contrary, situational and socio-cultural factors are the least studied. Finally, this study argues that there are too few studies that investigates the emotional, identity and social aspects underlying these food choices, suggesting the development of future research that investigate the implicit consumer subjective levers to decipher lactose-free milk consumptions.
Highlights
Milk consumption is definitely declined in the last decades, in developed countries [1]
The Psychological Factors That Influence the Lactose-Free Milk Consumption Some researchers have focused on understanding the connection between characteristics linked to cognitive processes, decision making and some personality traits and the consumption of lactose-free milk
It has been shown that nutrition knowledge and in particular the knowledge of the different nutritional properties of milk can influence the consumption of lactosefree milk [15, 16] especially if consumers frequently look for information regarding food nutritional features on food packages [14]
Summary
Milk consumption is definitely declined in the last decades, in developed countries [1]. The problematic aspects generated by this eating style are both nutritionally [3] and in terms of quality of life [4], especially when the subjects are not intolerant consumers [5, 6] Given these premises many studies have been carried out to Determinants of Milk Consumption explore this food trend [7, 8] and to understand consumers’ attitudes and purchase decisions. The identification of consumption determinants is paramount to guide educational and communication interventions to support suitable and health diets Personal differences, such as knowledge, attitudes habits and socio-demographic factors, are linked to consumers’ purchase behaviors increasing the intricacy of decision-making process. These variables are well described and considered by the recent perspective of Köster and Mojet [9]. In this narrative mini-review we will contribute to the scientific debate by summarizing the main psycho-social factors contributing to the consumption of lactose free milk as an alternative to cow’s milk
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