How Lactose Hydrolysis Can Help Reduce Sugar in Dairy-Based Bakery Products

Sugar reduction in bakery and pastry is one of the most persistent formulation challenges in the industry. Reformulating fillings, creams, and dairy-heavy desserts often requires replacing sucrose with high-intensity sweeteners that may compromise texture, flavor, and shelf life. Lactase enzymes could offer a different approach, one that works with the natural chemistry of milk rather than against it.

In April 2026, Kerry Group expanded its Carrigaline biotechnology facility in Cork, Ireland, with a focus on scaling the production of advanced lactases. The move reflects growing market demand for lactose-free and low-sugar dairy products, and it highlights how enzyme technology is becoming a more central tool in industrial food formulation.

The Mechanism: How Lactose Hydrolysis Works

Lactase act on lactose, the primary sugar in milk, breaking it down into its two constituent monosaccharides: glucose and galactose. This conversion may produce a meaningful change in the perceived sweetness of the dairy base, without adding any external sugars or sweeteners.

The key mechanisms at play are the following:

Sweetness index amplification. Glucose and galactose each carry a higher relative sweetness index than intact lactose. The stoichiometric shift that occurs during hydrolysis could naturally enhance the sweetness of a formulation without any added sugars.
Water activity (Aw) stabilization. Unlike artificial bulk sweeteners, which may significantly alter the free water within a dairy matrix, enzymatic lactose hydrolysis tends to maintain the original Aw profile. This may help preserve the physical behavior of creams and fillings during thermal processing and storage.
Clean flavor profile. By avoiding high-intensity artificial sweeteners entirely, formulators eliminate the metallic residual notes that often appear in reduced-sugar dairy lines, supporting a cleaner, more natural taste.
Label simplification. Removing artificial sweeteners from the ingredient list reduces formula complexity and may support clean-label positioning, which is increasingly relevant for premium bakery products.

Bakery and Pastry Applications: Where Lactase Enzymes Add the Most Value

While lactase technology is rooted in dairy processing, its practical implications extend directly into the commercial baking sector. However, its applicability varies significantly depending on the product category. Understanding where it fits, and where it does not, is essential for formulation planning.

Pastry Creams, Ganaches, and Frostings: The Strongest Use Case

This is arguably where lactase enzymes offer the most immediate value in bakery. Pastry creams, milk chocolate ganaches, and chantilly creams all carry significant lactose loads, making them strong candidates for enzymatic conversion.

Hydrolyzing the lactose in these components may:

Increase perceived sweetness without adding bulk sugars or high-intensity sweeteners.
Maintain the Aw profile of the filling, which could reduce moisture migration into the sponge and extend the finished product’s shelf life.
Support clean-label positioning by removing artificial sweetener declarations from the ingredient list.

Cheesecakes, Tres Leches, and Condensed Milk Bases: High-Dairy Desserts

Products that rely heavily on concentrated dairy bases, such as condensed milk, evaporated milk, or cream cheese, present a high concentration of lactose and therefore a strong enzymatic conversion potential.

In categories like cheesecakes, Tres Leches cakes, or flans, applying lactase to the dairy base prior to formulation could meaningfully reduce the required amount of added sugars, while preserving the rich mouthfeel and texture associated with high-fat dairy matrices.

Cake Sponges: Why Lactase Enzymes Have Limited Impact Here

It is important to note that lactase enzymes act exclusively on lactose. In a standard cake sponge, the sugar responsible for structure, volume, moisture retention, and browning is sucrose, not lactose. Although cake batters typically contain some milk, the lactose concentration in that fraction is insufficient to replace the multifunctional role of bulk sucrose.

Lactase hydrolysis does not provide a path to reducing sucrose in sponge formulations. Formulators should approach this technology as a targeted tool for dairy-rich components, not as a broad sugar reduction strategy for baked goods as a whole.

Production Line Implications for Industrial Bakeries

Beyond the formulation bench, integrating lactase enzymes into a dairy-heavy bakery line may offer operational advantages worth evaluating:

Simplified inventory. Removing artificial bulk sweeteners from the recipe reduces the number of raw materials to manage, which may streamline procurement and quality control processes.
Improved batch consistency. Maintaining the natural Aw and thermoreversibility of the dairy base means the product may behave more predictably during thermal processing and cooling phases, potentially reducing batch failures in delicate cream or ganache production.
Shelf life extension. Stabilized Aw in fillings and frostings may reduce moisture migration into adjacent sponge layers over time, which could extend the overall shelf life of assembled products such as layered cakes or cream-filled pastries.

Lactase technology does not offer a universal solution for sugar reduction in baked goods. However, for the dairy-rich components where it does apply, it may provide a strong, clean-label alternative to artificial sweeteners, one that works with the natural chemistry of milk rather than around it.

😊 Thanks for reading!

Sources:

https://www.siliconrepublic.com/business/kerry-expands-cork-facility-as-lactose-free-demand-grows

https://www.efsa.europa.eu/sites/default/files/2026-02/ON-9854.PDF