Low sugar in milk: What does that even mean?

Anyone who pays attention to the sugar content of their diet often thinks of sweets, soft drinks, or desserts first. But milk and milk alternatives also contain sugar – sometimes without any added table sugar.

The crucial difference lies between naturally occurring sugars and added sugar.

In animal milk, a large part of the sugar content comes from lactose, the natural milk sugar.

Plant-based drinks, on the other hand, contain no lactose. Nevertheless, they can contain sugar – either through added sweeteners or through the processing of the plant-based raw materials.

One important point stands out immediately: The animal species alone does not determine whether a milk contains little sugar.

This is particularly evident with donkey's milk and mare's milk. Both typically have a relatively high lactose content.

Anyone who specifically wants to consume as little sugar as possible should therefore not automatically reach for a rare animal milk

Why does the lactose content vary?

The composition of animal milk is not completely constant. Scientific studies describe, among other things, influences from the animal species, breed, lactation phase, feeding, and housing conditions.

Therefore, average values and literature ranges are useful, but not identical to the laboratory value of each individual batch.

Is milk sugar the same as regular sugar?

Lactose is a naturally occurring disaccharide, which consists of glucose and galactose.

Table sugar, chemically sucrose, on the other hand consists of glucose and fructose.

Both belong to the group of sugars, but differ in their chemical structure and digestion.

What does the nutritional table say?

The statement "of which sugar" denotes the total content of mono- and disaccharides.

Lactose is also included. In regular cow's milk, the stated sugar therefore comes predominantly from the naturally contained milk sugar.

The statement does not mean that the manufacturer has added sugar.

Why can oat and rice drinks contain sugar?

In plant-based drinks, the sugar content depends particularly strongly on the recipe and production.

Oats and rice contain starch. During processing enzymes can break down part of this starch into smaller carbohydrates and sugar.

Therefore, an oat drink can taste sweet and show sugar on its nutritional table, even though no table sugar was added.

Unsweetened is not the same for every plant

In many unsweetened almond drinks the stated sugar content is very low.

Unsweetened soy drinks can also contain very little sugar.

In contrast, with oat and rice drinks, it is particularly worth looking at the specific nutritional table.

Does lactose-free milk contain less sugar?

That sounds logical at first: If the lactose is removed, it should also contain less sugar.

In fact, in many lactose-free milk products, the lactose is broken down using the enzyme lactase into glucose and galactose.

This reduces the lactose content. The resulting simple sugars remain an ingredient of the food.

Therefore, lactose-free cow's milk is not automatically low in sugar.

Why does lactose-free milk often taste sweeter?

Glucose and galactose have different sweetening properties than lactose. After enzymatic breakdown, milk may therefore taste sweeter, even though it does not necessarily contain more total sugar.

Why does donkey milk contain relatively high levels of lactose?

Donkey milk differs significantly in its composition from cow's milk.

Scientific review articles state that donkey milk typically contains lactose levels of approximately 5.8 to 7.4 grams per 100 ml.

In cow's milk, the published comparative ranges are usually lower.

At the same time, donkey milk typically contains less fat and less total protein than cow's milk.

This shows why it is not very sensible to assess milk solely on the basis of a single nutritional value.

The stated values are literature ranges, not the results of an analysis of a specific DON DONKEY'S® batch.

Is donkey milk suitable for a low-sugar diet?

Anyone who wants to consume as little sugar as possible should consider that donkey milk naturally contains relatively high levels of lactose.

It is therefore not the obvious choice if you are looking solely for particularly low sugar content.

Its interest as a food lies much more in its special overall composition and its characteristic flavor profile.

You can also find a more detailed comparison in our article Which milk contains how much lactose?

How to find the milk with the lowest sugar content

Anyone who wants to compare different types of milk and alternatives can follow four simple steps.

Is the milk with the least sugar automatically the best?

Not necessarily. Sugar content is only a single component of the nutritional profile.

Two drinks may therefore have a similar sugar content but differ significantly in protein content, fat content, and added minerals.

Some plant drinks are, for example, fortified with calcium or vitamins. Others do not contain these additives.

Portion size also plays a role: Anyone who uses only a small splash of milk in coffee takes in a different amount of sugar than with a large glass.

A well-founded decision therefore considers not only the question "How much sugar?", but also "What other properties are important to me?".

Sources and scientific basis

Published composition ranges were used to compare animal milk types. Plant drinks are more dependent on their formulation and should be compared on the basis of their specific nutritional labelling.

1. Roy et al. (2020). Composition, Structure, and Digestive Dynamics of Milk From Different Species: A Review. Frontiers in Nutrition. Scientific publication
2. The Possibility of Including Donkey Meat and Milk in the Food Chain: A Southern African Scenario. Animals (2022). Full text and nutritional comparison
3. Composition, Physiochemical Properties, Nitrogen Fraction Distribution, and Amino Acid Profile of Donkey Milk. Journal of Dairy Science. Scientific article
4. European Union: Regulation (EU No. 1169/2011 on the provision of information to consumers in food labelling. Basis for nutritional labelling. Legal basis

The stated ranges are for general information. They do not replace individual product labelling or batch-specific laboratory analysis.

Conclusion: Low sugar is a question of the specific product

Anyone who wants to consume as little sugar as possible will often find particularly low-sugar options among unsweetened plant drinks.

Animal milk, on the other hand, naturally contains lactose. The amount varies between animal species.

Donkey milk and mare's milk are therefore typically among the higher-lactose milk types.

For a well-founded selection, the sugar content should always be considered together with the other nutritional values, the intended use, and personal preferences.