A friend shared this article on twitter last week. While I can’t vouch for the science behind it (any readers able to?), I did find it very interesting. I know a number of people who have mentioned that they have “lactose intolerance” here, in North America, but when they travel overseas to places like France they have no trouble digesting any dairy products. I wonder if this could also help to explain the people who’ve told me that the local East Coast Organic milk is the only kind they can tolerate. Perhaps it has less to do with what the cows are eating, and more to do with the breed of cow. Something to chew on.
bitemywords.com 
Mar 28, 2014 at 11:12 am
As far as I know, European countries do not allow hormones or growth promoters whereas the US does. Also organic milk is usually from cows that are raised naturally – grass fed, no growth promoters or hormones etc.
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Mar 28, 2014 at 11:37 am
We don’t allow use of growth hormones in dairy cows in Canada either so that wouldn’t explain differences in tolerance between Canadian and European dairy. Diet and breed might though.
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Mar 30, 2014 at 1:09 pm
It could also be the type of processing or added vitamins too. I know I do better in the summer when I drink local milk that is fresh from the cow. Which could also explain the popularity of raw milk.
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Mar 30, 2014 at 2:07 pm
The type of processing was also suggested by a dairy farmer I know. So many considerations!
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Apr 3, 2014 at 6:43 pm
I wouldn’t quickly dismiss the diet of the cows. We are what we eat. So are the cows! This is what the ECO website has to say:
http://eastcoastorganicmilk.ca/news-events/
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