Lactose - Feed Ingredient

Lactose is a disaccharide sugar composed of glucose and galactose units. It is naturally found in milk and whey products and serves as the primary carbohydrate in the milk of most mammals. In feed applications, lactose is typically derived from dairy industry byproducts, such as sweet whey or dried whey permeate.

In equine nutrition, lactose is not a common energy source for adult horses. Mature horses have limited lactase enzyme activity in the small intestine, which reduces their ability to digest lactose efficiently. Lactose-containing ingredients may be better tolerated by foals or young horses that naturally produce more lactase