Sensory characteristics and acceptability of lactose-reduced baked custards made with an egg substitute.

Osteoporosis contributes notably to health care costs associated with older adults and to morbidity and mortality in women (1-3). Insufficient calcium, phosphorus, and vitamin D intakes throughout life contribute to its development and progression. Many Americans have inadequate calcium intakes. Women and older adults consume fewer than the recommended number of servings of dairy foods per day (4-7). Dietary restrictions and lactose intolerance contribute to those low intakes (8,9). Severity of symptoms of lactose intolerance depend on age, lactose load, type of dairy food, and whether the dairy food is consumed with a meal (10-13).

Lactose-reduced dairy foods are alternatives for persons with lactose intolerance. Baked custard is a product suitable for lactose reduction because it contains high-quality proteins, calcium, vitamin D, and other nutrients, and it is served frequently to older adults in foodservice operations. Sutton et al (14) reported that lactose hydrolysis did not affect sweetness, firmness, and color of baked custard. Wu et al (15) reported that older adults (aged 59 years or older) liked lactose-reduced baked custard more than young adults (aged 18 to 35 years), but both groups wanted a low-fat, low-cholesterol version. Low-fat, low-cholesterol egg yolk preparations are now available for food manufacturers to use in formulating egg-based products. Therefore, we examined the effects of lactose, fat, and cholesterol reductions on the quality of baked custard. Nonfat milk; nonfat, 70% lactose-reduced milk; and a low-fat, low-cholesterol egg substitute were used to achieve reductions.

METHODS

A standard formula was modified and used to prepare 6 custard formulations (Table 1) (16). Modifications included [TABULAR DATA FOR TABLE 1 OMITTED] [TABULAR DATA FOR TABLE 2 OMITTED] …