Food allergies and food intolerances are very different
conditions:

o   
A true food allergy occurs when
the immune system has an abnormal reaction to a food or a component of it. In
the case of cow’s milk allergy, the reaction is to the protein in milk. The
reaction can lead to undesirable or even dangerous symptoms. Symptoms for cow’s
milk allergy may include hives (urticaria), vomiting, diarrhoea, colic,
rhinitis and gastroenteritis. Because many people are uninformed, milk allergy
is often self-diagnosed. However, it is best to seek a qualified diagnosis from
a health practitioner such as a medical doctor or a dietitian, who will do a
series of tests as part of an elimination process. If the patient is allergic
to cow’s milk, all dairy products must be avoided, including milk and flavoured
milk, cheese, yoghurt, butter, ghee, ice cream, soured-milk products, milk
powder, etc. Food labels have to be studied carefully to determine whether a
product contains milk powder, milk solids, casein or whey, since these can all
lead to an allergic reaction. Research has shown that cow’s milk allergy
affects only 2–6% of infants and 0.1–0.5% of adults worldwide. Most children
outgrow their allergy around 5 years of age.

o   
A food intolerance is merely an
intolerance to a certain amount of a specific food; it is not a response
elicited by the immune system. Intolerances are often due to a shortage of an
appropriate enzyme or a physiological response to certain ingredients in the
food, whether natural or artificial, and so an intolerance does not mean that a
food should be completely excluded from the diet, but merely that smaller
amounts should be ingested at a time.

Some people are lactose intolerant, meaning that they struggle to
handle lactose, the type of sugar naturally found in milk of mammalian origin.
The enzyme lactase helps with the digestion of lactose found in milk. If
someone’s body does not produce enough lactase, they will struggle to digest
the lactose in milk. The level or degree of lactose intolerance can differ from
person to person. Not everyone with low levels of the enzyme lactase, are
lactose intolerant or will experience symptoms after consuming milk. Bacteria
that occur naturally in the colon ferment the undigested lactose when it
arrives from the small intestine, which can lead to acid and gas forming in the
colon, along with reabsorption of water to dilute the concentration of the
lactose. As a result, someone who is lactose intolerant can experience bloating,
flatulence abdominal cramping, vomiting or diarrhoea when they typically consume
more than 12 g lactose (the amount of lactose in one glass of milk) at a time.

Lactose intolerant can still benefit from the
nutrients in dairy by simply consuming smaller quantities of milk at a time, having
dairy in combination with other foods, or choosing naturally fermented dairy
products such as yoghurt or maas. Cheese contains virtually no lactose and
should not have any adverse effect. Consuming hard cheese such as Cheddar and
Gouda should not cause any discomfort for lactose intolerance individuals.