Lactose is a disaccharide sugar made up of glucose and galactose, with the molecular formula C12H22O11, and is the main sugar naturally found in milk, making up roughly two to eight percent of milk by mass. It is considerably less sweet than ordinary table sugar, with a relative sweetness of only about 0.2 to 0.4 compared with sucrose, and its comparatively low solubility can give foods a gritty mouthfeel if too much is added directly. Because of this, lactose is used less as a direct sweetener and more as a bulking agent, carrier and stabilizer, particularly in pharmaceutical tablets and infant formula.
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