🇨🇳 No Cheese in China!

We enter the store…

Where’s the cheese? Where’s the sour cream? None of it is there!…

Let’s talk about things that are not so popular in China. It should be mentioned, of course, that both cheese and sour cream can be ordered online. But they’re rarely available in stores, only in the biggest cities in their biggest supermarkets.

We have talked a lot about cheese and dairy products with our colleagues. One has to run to the toilet after yogurt, and another asks why to eat cheese at all if it’s not healthy! Why are dairy products not popular in China?

1. Lactose intolerance. Lactose intolerance is quite common among people in East Asia, and China is no exception. Just like our colleagues, many Chinese people feel discomfort after consuming dairy products — their stomachs are bloated, and their day is disrupted by diarrhea or vomiting. The prevalence of lactose intolerance is often linked to genetics. You see, historically East Asians didn’t rely on dairy, and so their bodies simply haven’t learned to process lactose. Figures from various sources show a shocking fact — about 90–95% of the Chinese population has some form of lactose intolerance! Its level is, of course, different — some are in a better situation than others.