The prevalence of milk and lactose intolerance and intestinal lactase deficiency was studied in 30 apparently healthy Peruvian individuals. At the same time, 20 milk-intolerant persons were included in the study. According to the results of lactose-tolerance tests and intestinal lactase assays, one-third of the 30 were considered normal and were used as controls. The other two-thirds were found to be abnormal and were referred to asasymptomatics; they tolerated well small amounts of milk consumed daily. Upon lactose load, they developed gastro-intestinal symptoms, and maximal rise of blood glucose was below normal limits. Enzymatic assay indicated that they were deficient in intestinal lactase.