A Survey on Consumers with Lactose Intolerance in Italy: Their Perception, Habits and Needs When Shopping for Groceries

This study aimed to investigate perceptions, habits and needs of a new growing consumers’ category: individuals with lactose in- tolerance (LI). This digestive disorder affects about 70% of the world population who need to follow a lactose-free (LF) diet to respite symptoms, so that the purchase of suitable LF foods becomes essential. An ad hoc questionnaire was administered to 384 subjects with LI and the collected data were imported into a SAS dataset for statistical analyses. Consumers with LI need to do grocery shopping quickly and safely (79.2%), avoiding spending time reading unclear labels. The dominant factors determining food choices resulted in taste (26.6%) and price (21.3%) while relevant is the need to taste new products (55.7%). A growing demand for LF references, especially sweet (24.9%) and savoury (12.6%) bakery goods and ice cream (18.4%) was reported. The first in-depth study about consumers with LI has been carried out. The results can be exploited as new and widespread cultur- al model of consumption of LF products by food companies to sell the most desired products to this consumer category. An improve- ment of LF labelling through a recognizable certification trademark, such as Lfree®, could represent a good strategy for quick and safe purchases. Consumers would be protected and assisted during their grocery shopping making it quicker, also complying with the new safety measures for Covid-19 pandemic. These findings shed light on a poorly-known topic that is increasing its relevance.