Method for producing a cheese with reduced amount of galactose

A method for producing a cheese with a reduced galactose content, comprising:

• (a) inoculating milk with:
• (I) Streptococcus thermophilus (ST) bacteria, wherein the ST bacteria are ST Gal(+) bacteria that reduce galactose content in milk by at least 10% as compared to reference ST strain CHCC4323 (deposited at Deutsche Sammlung von Mikroorganismen und Zellkulturen GmbH (DSMZ), under accession number DSM 32826), when assessed by inoculating skim cow milk with 1% overnight cultures of the ST bacteria, incubating for 18 hours at 37° C. to obtain fermented milk, and measuring galactose content in the fermented milk;
• and
• (II) Lactobacillus (Lb.) bacteria, wherein the Lb. bacteria comprise one or more Lb. bacteria selected from Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. lactis bacteria and Lb. helveticus bacteria and are Lb. Gal(+)Lac(−) bacteria that are able to ferment galactose but not able to ferment lactose, such that, when 1% overnight cultures of the Lb. bacteria are inoculated in De Man, Rogosa and Sharpe (MRS) medium containing 1% galactose as sole carbohydrate and incubated for 24 hours at 37° C., the pH of the medium has decreased by at least 0.5, and such that, when 1% overnight cultures of the Lb. bacteria are inoculated in MRS medium containing 1% lactose as sole carbohydrate and incubated for 18 hours at 37° C., the pH of the medium has not decreased by more than 1.0;
• (b) fermenting the milk with the bacteria of (a);
• and
• (c) processing the fermented milk to obtain cheese, wherein the cheese has a reduced galactose content.