“So am I,” said another guest. “Me too,” chimed a third. “And cheese was my favorite food.”

We can develop lactose intolerance at an early age: After being weaned, roughly 70% of the world’s children begin to lose the ability to make lactase, the enzyme which breaks down lactose in the intestine. This lack of lactase causes lactose intolerance. Much of it is undiagnosed, brushed off as a generic stomach ache.

Today’s tip is for anyone who may have noticed some type of digestive upset after eating cheese.

Most cheeses are 98% lactose free, but the 2% that remains can cause severe digestive problems.

There’s good news here, though: Most aged, hard cheeses are naturally lactose free, including the popular and versatile Cheddar. You might not be able to enjoy fresh goat cheese, Brie and mozzarella without side effects. But don’t lament what you can’t have: Rejoice in what you can have.

That list starts with Cheddar. In the cheese-making process, the whey, where most of the lactose resides, is drained from the curd in the milk. With hard, aged cheeses like Cheddar, the remaining 2% of the lactose is consumed in the aging process.

Since most people don’t realize this, Cabot Cheese, a Cheddar specialist, has been labeling one of its products as “Lactose Free.” That’s like labeling olive oil “Cholesterol Free,” but it’s part of the education process for the majority of people, who just don’t know.

Other cheeses to try: Colby, Swiss, Parmesan or other hard grating cheeses such as Asiago, Grana Padano and Pecorino Romano.

Note, however, that people who have zero lactase activity (are completely lactose intolerant) may not be able to eat any kind of dairy product unless it has undergone an extra step in production: a specific enzymatic process that predigests all the lactose into galactose and glucose. Green Valley makes excellent lactose-free yogurt and sour cream. More products like this are coming onto the market, but be prepared to pay a bit more for the extra time and effort required.

Do you like cottage cheese? It can range from 0 to 4 grams of lactose per half cup. You can contact the producer to see where a particular brand ranks; or you can try different brands to see which you tolerate.

Like American cheese on your burger? Switch to Cheddar or Swiss: A 1.5-ounce slice of processed American cheese can contain up to 6 grams of lactose!

LACTOSE IS HIDING IN YOUR FAVORITE FOODS

While you might expect to find milk derivatives in processed foods such as blue cheese dressing, cocoa mixes, cream soups and frostings, you may find them in unexpected places.

It’s used in breads, candies, cold cuts, cookies, dry cereals, frozen breaded fish and chicken, hot dogs and—surprise—packets of sugar substitutes, where it is used to bulk up the packets. The spoonable versions—what you’d sprinkle on cereal—have even more of it.

Beyond giveaways such as buttermilk, cream, half and half and milk, words to look for and avoid:

 
Read the labels carefully.

Here’s a collection of lactose education materials from the National Dairy Council.

Find more of our favorite cheeses—including lactose-free cheeses—in our Cheese Section.
  

Fruit drinks, doubly spiced. Photo courtesy
Prometheus Springs.

There’s a big market of people who love spicy foods. They’ll love these terrific, refreshing, spicy drinks, which make great cocktail mixers as well.

We love every one of the six flavors:

 
In addition to the spices in each fruit, capsaicin—the heat component of hot chiles—is added for double sizzle.

But the drinks are “mainstream hot.” We prefer mild salsa, for example, and found the heat levels to be just fine.

Check out the full review, and perhaps send some Prometheus Springs to a spicy-hot loving friend.

Or, use them to add sizzle to your Labor Day bash.
 
Find more of our favorite beverages: reviews and recipes.
  

But there are other foods in softer packaging—bags of bread, produce bags and such. For these types of foods—anything in bag that you’d twist close—the Fish Clip is the better bag.

The jaws of the fish open wide, then cinch tight and lock in place. It accommodates a broad variety of package necks, including the smallest (like the bread bag) to the largest cereal bag.

The clips are magnetic so they can tread water on the fridge until needed. Or, use them for non-food purposes—on filing cabinets, to neaten cable cords—a more colorful substitute for velcro ties.

Think of them as small gifts and stocking stuffers. You can buy them online at Amazon.com.

A festive party drink: iced tea with fresh
berries. Photo © EugeneBochkarev |
Dreamstime.

Think small: The smaller berries, raspberries and strawberries, work best; you also may be able to find small grapes. If you’d like to add a couple of mint leaves, look for a bunch of mint with smaller leaves.

HOW TO MAKE A BERRY DRINK

1. Berries float in liquid, so you need to layer the ice cubes and berries to anchor the fruit.

2. Add a berry to the glass, followed by a couple of ice cubes to hold the berry down. Keep layering, dispersing the berries evenly around the glass (i.e., not all on one side of the glass).

3. When you’re finished layering, add the liquid and serve.

4. Place a few berries on a cocktail pick as the garnish. When people are finished with the drink, they can use the pick to skewer the berries in the glass.

 
What would you layer? Please share.

Find more of our favorite non-alcoholic drinks and drink recipes.
 
  

Updated July 2026

We recently purchased a bargain-size package of culinary lavender on Amazon. Our intent was to make lavender tea,* which we consume by the potful.

When a very large pouch of lavender arrived, we had to figure out what to do with all of it. We didn’t want to go the high-calorie dessert route—lavender pound cake, crème brûlée, ice cream, panna cotta and so forth.

So lavender iced tea was a no-brainer (the recipe is in the *footnote). Then we turned to lavender lemonade, a lovely gourmet twist.

It’s easy to keep both of them low-calorie with a non-caloric sweetener.

Below:

> Lavender lemonade recipe.

> Recipe variations and garnishes.

> Lavender simple syrup recipe.

> Make lavender water and its health benefits.

Elsewhere On The Nibble:

> The history of lemonade.

> The history of lemons.

> The different types of lemons: a photo glossary.

> How to add spicy heat to lemonade.

> The different types of sugar and other sweeteners: a photo glossary.

> The year’s 14 lemon holidays.

August 20th is National Lemonade Day.
 
 
RECIPE #1: LAVENDER LEMONADE

When we made a four-cup version of this recipe, all the lemonade was gone in a minute. So this larger recipe makes a bit more than a gallon, or 16 eight-ounce servings—two 64-ounce pitchers.

Ingredients

[1] Make lavender-infused lemonade for a gourmet twist (photo © The Nibble).

[2] A bunch of dried organic lavender makes lavender tea and lavender garnishes (photo © Ines Iachelini | Unsplash).

1. BOIL. Boil one gallon of water plus the sugar in a large saucepan.

2. INFUSE. Add lavender and simmer for 15 minutes. If you don’t want to strain it out, place the lavender in a mesh spice ball/tea infuser.

3. ADD. Cool to room temperature. Add lemon juice, strain out lavender and chill.
 
 
VARIATIONS

 
Tips

 
Garnishes

 

[3] There are lavender farms all over America. Check to find the nearest one to visit. This is Hambly Lavender Farm in San Miguel, California, where you can pick your own lavender (photo © Hambly Lavender Farm).
 
 
RECIPE #2: LAVENDER SIMPLE SYRUP

You can make lavender simple syrup in advance; then, just spoon it into unsweetened lemonade or iced tea. You get both sweetener and lavender flavor at once!
 
Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. COMBINE the water and sugar in a saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring until the sugar fully dissolves.

2. ADD the lavender buds and simmer for 15 minutes. Strain out lavender and let the syrup cool. Keep in a tightly-capped jar (no refrigeration needed) and use it to sweeten plain iced tea, hot tea, unsweetened lemonade and cocktails.

3. CONSIDER making extra bottles to give as gifts.
 
 
MAKE LAVENDER WATER, TOO

You can also flavor water with lavender. Simmer the lavender in water for 15 minutes, cool and refrigerate.

Lavender-infused water has a sophisticated, floral flavor profile with zero calories or sugar. In addition to being a refreshing drink, lavender water is a:

 
__________________

*Lavender tea recipe: Steep lavender to taste with the tea leaves; start by making just one cup of tea with 1/4 teaspoon per 6 ounces of water, and adjust to strength to taste with a subsequent cup).
 
 

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