From Paul Roberts's new book The End of Food
:In Asia, ice cream is proving surprisingly popular among a people that aren't supposed to tolerate dairy products; in fact, Nestle's researchers now contend that Asians aren't any more lactose intolerant than any other ethnic group. The problem, Brimlow [director of Nestle's Chinese research center] told me, is that cow's milk, has historically been so scarce and expensive in China, that most Chinese never developed the enzyme needed to digest dairy foods. If Chinese children are introduced to milk early on, says Brimlow, they have no trouble tolerating lactose -- a finding that has spurred Nestle's China operation to launch a wide range if dairy products aimed at the youth market. "Even as adults, it takes only three months to develop the enzyme," Brimlow says. "They may feel a little sick for a while, but they get used to it. Yogurt is a great way to reintroduce dairy."
