Lactase Preparation in contrast with International European Standards

The purpose of the following report is to demonstrate and compare which lactase preparations are currently available on the European market. There is a wide range of manufacturers and products in existence, and the situation of the current European market is not clear-cut. Differences in FCC (FOOD CHEMICAL CODEX)-Units, shape, packaging and added ingredients do their best to confuse the costumer. The study comprises of a lot of European products from different countries.

This short comparison focuses on the following main key criteria:

• Pricing
• Price per 1000 FCC
• Amount of tablets/capsules in one package
• Design and daily usage
• Weight and size of tablet/capsule
• Availability: Pharmacy/Online

Conclusion

The first thing to acknowledge is that lactase is lactase. Every preparation that can be obtained throughout Europe contains lactase (in different dosages) plus different additional ingredients. These additional ingredients vary from product to product.

In fact, it is not only the ingredients of a preparation that play a role for a person suffering from lactose intolerance but they must also consider its effects on everyday life. Packaging can be purely oversized (does not easily fit into a pocket) or look like something from a pharmacy shelf. Stigmatization exists across all age groups (especially for children and youngsters), because people have to take out their preparations and take them before every meal that contains lactose.

All in all, lactase preparations should fulfill much more than just be „the pill to take when I want to drink a latte macchiato“. Price, number of tablets/capsules, availability (from a pharmacy and online), tablet/capsule size and purity also play an important role. But why is it so important that a product contains as little additive ingredients as possible? One reason is that they are irrelevant for the main purpose of splitting lactose into glucose and galactose, and because your body might react negatively to it. So why should you consume something like silicon dioxide (E551) or titanium dioxide (E171), for example, that you get no benefit from?!

All the products in the comparison fulfill their purpose as a supplement that helps to digest products containing lactose, but we also have to say after having looked carefully at each, that the purest is the lactase preparation „LactoJoy“ from Germany.

LactoJoy combines purity and innovative packaging with a small chewable tablet that also contains a high amount (14,500 FCC) of lactase. The packaging is easy to handle and gives the impression of taking a tiny mint candy rather than of a tablet that serves a medical purpose. If we take a look at the prices, it also becomes apparent that LactoJoy is very cheap at just 1.6 cents per 1000 FCC-Units.

The availability of all the compared products varies. But every product can purchased from all over Europe via Amazon or directly from the websites of the products. It must be said that they are fairly easy to get your hands on if need be!

Preparations:

LactoJoy:

LactoJoy is a product from Germany. Its manufacturer pays much attention to its organic quality and its outer appearance (small sliding metal box!). The fact that the ingredients consist of just lactase, organic potato starch and magnesium salts makes it very easy for people with high standards, a vegan lifestyle, gluten/fructose/histamine allergy, or any other special dietary requirements to take. Whilst being one of the smallest tablets (both size and weight-wise), it also is one of the lowest priced lactase products on the current market. At 19.45 euros for a packet of 80 tablets (each tablet contains 14,500 FCC-Units and can be divided into two pieces of approximately 7250 FCC-Units each),  it works out the cheapest in terms of FCC-Units: at just 1.6 cents per 1000 units. Furthermore, LactoJoy delivers across the whole of the EU and does not charge for delivery. (www.lactojoy.com)

Arko enzym – lactose Digest:

French Arkopharma offers a 30-piece cardboard box resembling a medicine carton. These capsules contain 4500 FCC-Units each and the price ranges in the upper middle band at 11.99 euros per box and 8.8 cents per 1000 FCC-Units. Being a gel capsule, it might not be the lactase product of choice for everyone. As seen in the table above there are some additive ingredients in the capsules, such as hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose (E464), titanium dioxide (E171) and iron oxide (E172). (www.arkopharma.com)

Lactase Solgar:

This product from the UK comes in a fairly small glass container, which is a contrast to all the cans and boxes other manufacturers try to hide their lactase tablets/capsules in. Being in a small glass container it is not very convenient to carry around all day. Furthermore we found a lot of ingredients in this product which do not belong in a lactase preparation in our opinion. One example is Mannitol. This is a sugar alcohol with a diuretic and laxative effect.

The size of the tablet is one of the biggest seen in our test. Each chewing tablet contains 3500 FCC-Units and at 12.6 cents per 1000 FCC, it is one of the most expensive tablets in the whole comparison. (www.solgar.com)

Enzyme Active Lactase:

An American product that comes in capsules and a „plastic pill container“. This is not very attractive to carry with you on a day to day basis and at 3.3 cents per 1000 FCC Units, it is not even that cheap. Due to the fact that this lactase product comes in capsules which contain gelatin it is not suitable for everyone. Furthermore the capsules are very big compared to other chewing tablets.

Quest Lactase Enzyme:

Quest Lactase from the UK comes in a plastic container, as many other products do. This time it is small but far from attractive. At 13.58 euros for a container of 90 tablets, it is in the middle price band of the lactase preparations which have been compared and costs 7.5 cents per 1000 FCC Units. Each chewing tablet contains 2000 FCC-Units, which might not be sufficient for more severe cases. The lower the FCC-Units in a preparation, the more pills have to be taken, which is not desirable either. (There is no website solely for this product, it can be purchased on Amazon.)

Leben´s Laktase:

Leben´s Laktase, also a product from Germany, comes in the commonly used „pill plastic can“. The convenience of carrying this can around is questionable. One pill contains only 1000 FCC and is a medium sized chewing tablet. As for additive ingredients, Leben´s Laktase do not contain any gluten, fructose or animal based products. The price of 11.17 euros for a package of 120 tablets and 9.3 cents per 1000 FCC-Units is relatively high. (There is no website solely for this product, it can be purchased on Amazon.)

Webber Naturals – Lactase Enzyme:

Canadian company Webber Naturals offers a product with 9000 FCC-Units. This very big plastic container looks like a big box for vitamin supplements and is not ideal for carrying around on a normal day. The size is explained by the fact that Webber Naturals produces gelatin capsules and offers 120 capsules in one container. According to the information found on the container, no special ingredients are used except for those that can be found in nearly all other products. With a price of 17.94 euros (in France) this product is just as cheap as the German LactoJoy, calculated per 1000 FCC, but Webber Naturals contains Bovine Gelatin and is twice as big as those by LactoJoy (although it contains nearly 40 percent less lactase), this makes it more difficult to swallow. (www.webbernaturals.com)

Naturlider – Lactasa:

The company Naturlider offers its product as capsules, as many of the contestants in this field do, and in a fairly big plastic box. These capsules are made of vegetable gelatin and contain 10,000 FCC-Units per capsule and are, at 571 mg, quite big compared with the other tablets/capsules. The container is filled with 60 tablets and costs 22.37 euro or 3.7 cents per 1000 FCC-Units which is in the lowest pricing band. (www.naturliderinternational.com)

Scitec Essentials – Lactase Enzyme:

‘The bigger, the better’ could be the motto of America’s Scitec Essentials. The biggest and shiniest plastic container of them all resembles a container for body building food supplements. Whether that is the most convenient and attractive way to carry your lactase capsules is yet to be answered. 100 capsules, each containing 5000 FCC-Units, can be purchased for 12.57 euros, which means at 2.5 cents per 1000 FCC-Units it is also one of the cheaper products on the market. (www.scitecnutrition.com)

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