In labelling dairy milk - is the lactose listed under carbohydrates or separately as a sugar?

Lactose is counted as a sugar and sugars are included within the total carbohydrate value on the nutrition information panel.

Lactose is the naturally occurring sugar in milk. On nutrition information panels, lactose is generally included in the sugars figure. 

As sugars are a type of carbohydrate, lactose also contributes to the total carbohydrate value. Think of carbohydrates as the total amount of sugars, starches and other carbohydrate ingredients in the product. 

For milk products, the sugars figure includes lactose and in flavoured products, any added sugars. 

For example, if a plain milk nutrition information panel shows: 

Carbohydrate: 4.8 g 

Sugars: 4.8 g 

This shows that all the carbohydrate comes from naturally occurring milk sugars, primarily lactose. 

In flavoured dairy products, the sugars value may include both naturally occurring lactose and any added sugars used for flavour. On certain products, some manufacturers have decided to list added sugars and naturally occurs sugars separately.  

So, when reading a dairy nutrition label, lactose is under both carbohydrates and sugar. It’s included in the sugars figure, which forms part of the total carbohydrate figure.