>Question: Does anyone know what lactylate is?  I have seen it on
>products marked with a parve hechsher.  Is it dairy or not?

It can come from both dairy and non-dairy sources.  If it's in a product
with a reliable parve hechsher you can probably safely assume that it's
from a non-dairy source, but depending upon the severity of your son's
reactions you may wish to call the company to confirm that.  I've been
told that sodium stearoyl lactylate is a fat-based ingredient that is not
normally made from milk, but I don't have a source to back that up.

This is from http://www.kashrus.org/kosher/chem.html:

Calcium Sterol Lactylate
Source: milk or soybeans. Use: instant mashed potatoes. Requires kosher
supervision.

Calcium Stearoyl Lactylate
Source: chemical reaction of stearic acid and lactic acid. Use: as a dough
conditioner, whipping agent and as a conditioner in dehydrated potatoes.
Requires kosher supervision

Stearyl Lactylic Acid
Source: fats and oils. Use: emulsifier. Requires Kosher supervision. (Kosher
forms are often dairy.)

Stearic Acid
Source: animal or vegetable oil. Use: in butter and vanilla flavoring,
softener in chewing gum.  Requires Kosher supervision.

Lactic Acid
Sources: molasses, corn starch, glucose, molasses. Use: preservative,
flavoring. (Lactic acid can also be produced from whey, in which case it is
dairy, but its use is restricted to ice cream and cream cheese). Kosher,
Pareve without supervision.


Hope this helps,
--Robyn