Why does milk and ice cream sell so much if most people are lactose intolerant?

Nearly 75% of Yahoo Answers users are from a planet other than Earth. A full 82% of those have no genetalia. Nearly 90% of those are anti-religion, anti vegetarian and democrats. I can write ANYTHING I WANT! Don't believe everything you read!

"Most" people are NOT lactose intolerant. Lactose intolerance is a deficiency of the "intrinsic factor" in the body--which makes lactose hard to digest, causing stomach distress and bowel difficulties. Most people who are not of Asian or Middle-Eastern heritage do not have any problem digesting lactose. There are other factors which contribute to the inability to tolerate lactose--sometimes it's a side effect of gastric bypass surgery, or is an inherited condition. Wherever this statistic came from it's probably wrong, or has been misinterpreted. It might have said that 70% of ASIANS are lactose intolerant--which may not be far off the mark. Even lactose intolerant people can still EAT dairy foods containing lactose--they simply have stomach aches, bloating or diarrhea afterwards. I know people who would not give up their ice cream or milk even if they were. These things are popular because people like the taste of them. Hamburgers and french fries aren't healthy to eat either--but no one is giving those up. Ditto for many foods and substances.

I'd bet that the article you read either didn't site any source information for this claim or if it did, then the source was most likely a poorly conducted observational survey. These types of claims can usually by traced back to some militant vegan activist group that has no qualms about lying for their cause.

I'm not sure 70% of the population is lactose intolerant. They might think they are but that's a different matter

People from the Orient used to say that us westerners always smelt of milk and cream; probably because they never used it as much as us.