The Milkaid Thing Nobody Tells You
The pharmacy version has raspberry flavouring in it. The website version doesn't.
Milkaid is a lactase enzyme supplement — you take it before eating dairy and it helps you digest lactose. Straightforward enough. What most people don't know: the version sold in pharmacies and supermarkets contains raspberry flavouring.
Raspberry flavouring. In a product designed for people with digestive issues.
It doesn't affect the efficacy of the enzyme itself. The flavouring is purely cosmetic — the chewable tablets taste like raspberry so they're more palatable. But for people with IBS, artificial flavourings and additives are a known irritant for some. You could be taking a supplement to reduce dairy symptoms while inadvertently adding a separate trigger every time you use it.
The fix
The unflavoured capsule version is only available directly from the Milkaid website. The Milkaid Max Capsules (60s) contain the enzyme — nothing else added. Same dose as the Max tablets, no raspberry, no unnecessary additives.
The capsule format also gives you more flexibility. If you're having a small amount of dairy — a splash of milk in coffee — you can open the capsule and use half. The tablets don't split cleanly.
A note on lactase vs the elimination diet
Lactase supplements let you eat dairy without lactose symptoms, but they don't change the fact that lactose is a FODMAP. During the strict elimination phase, it's cleaner to switch to lactose-free products rather than relying on enzyme supplements — the goal of that phase is a complete baseline, and supplements add a variable.
Once you're in reintroduction and have confirmed that lactose is a trigger (or isn't), lactase supplements are a useful day-to-day tool. Capsules only, if you can manage it.