McGill Office for Science and Society (OSS)

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McGill Office for Science and Society (OSS)

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The McGill Office for Science and Society (OSS) is dedicated to disseminating up-to-date information in the areas of food, food issues, medications, cosmetics and general health topics. Our approach is multi-faceted, making use of radio, television, the press, the Internet, private consultations, public lectures, and the classroom. The OSS acknowledges the generous support of the Trottier Family Foundation.

01/31/2025

We have come a long way since 3000 BC, when the first form of our common toothbrush was a simple “chew stick,” 🪵 These days, new techniques and trends are always being publicized both for oral health and aesthetics. Oil pulling was one of the most popular dental trends of 2023. It involves swishing around oil in the mouth (for around 15 minutes) to remove bacteria and allegedly “whiten teeth.” Is there any merit to this practice or are we just clutching at straws? 🤔

The claimed benefits of oil pulling (OP) extend beyond oral health 🦷 According to the Oil Pulling Organization, OP is a safe, simple, cheap and gentle do it yourself home remedy, a divine gift to suffering humanity for all diseases. Conveniently they also have a list of all the diseases that OP has cured, along with the numbers of cases that have reported being cured. They make very bold claims but don't have the facts to back it up 🙄

How does OP even work to clean teeth? We don't know...�The supposed mechanism of action of OP is blurry. A study published in the Indian Journal of Dental Research postulated that the process likely occurs in one of three ways. One being related to the oil creating a protective film around teeth, preventing plaque aggregation. Another postulates that the antioxidant property of oil is the culprit to good oral health. Finally, the last idea claims that the oil, when swished undergoes saponification. Yes, soap-making right in your mouth 🫧 Even though these are interesting theories none of them have been confirmed.

Surprisingly, there may be some benefits to oil pulling. Of course, it is not the miracle practice that it is claimed to be, but according to multiple studies it does improve oral hygiene. In the same study published in the Indian Journal of Dental Research, OP (with sesame oil) was found to be as effective as regular mouth wash (chlorhexidine) yet six times more cost effective 💵

So, it turns out we’re not clutching at straws! But we shouldn’t give OP too much credit considering all of the false claims. It won’t solve all of your problems, but could help with a few oral ones, when paired with normal brushing 🧪

https://mcgill.ca/x/wyP

Maintaining good oral hygiene is critical in order to maintain overall health. Many people only realize the impact that dental health has on the rest of the body when they are reading the posters in the dentist’s waiting room. Typically, we are all very concerned with the whiteness of our smile an...

01/29/2025

According to outlets like TIME Magazine backward walking is "the best workout you're not doing." 🚶➡️ Fitness trends like these often rely on buzz rather than solid science. While backward walking has been praised for strengthening legs, improving posture, reducing pain, and burning calories, the evidence is thin.

One study from 1997 found that walking backward burns more calories than forward walking due to increased exertion. However, burning fat by exercise alone is hard to do, that weight loss is difficult to sustain, and there are more enjoyable ways of working up a sweat. Retro-walking's origins in physical therapy (if you walk all the way back to Ancient China) claim potential in rehabilitating conditions like knee osteoarthritis, Parkinson’s, and strokes. Yet, many studies on backward walking are small, poorly designed, and lack long-term follow-up 👎

The safety of backward walking also raises concerns 😟 Reports from 2000 detail injuries during training, including hip fractures and worsened conditions. Experts recommend careful supervision, such as using parallel bars or suspension devices, especially for older adults.

The real issue is that half of Canadian adults don’t meet physical activity targets. Instead of chasing exotic trends, focus on basic, enjoyable exercises 🏃‍♂️ Move more, sweat, and skip the hype over walking backward.

https://mcgill.ca/x/wyA

According to a recent TIME Magazine headline, the best workout you’re not doing is backward walking. Mass-market publications are always looking for the buzziest fitness hack they can sell to their readers. Their authors are almost never scientists; they interview a few “experts” who believe i...

01/28/2025

🔴 Erythrosine (Red Dye #3), was synthesized in 1876 and deemed safe under Dr. Harvey Washington Wiley’s 1906 Pure Foods and Drugs Act 🇺🇸 The dye cruised along under the radar until the 1970s, when the FDA became concerned that erythrosine, with 4 iodine atoms in its molecular structur ⚛️ might somehow affect the thyroid gland that relied on iodine to produce its hormones. Animal studies showed high doses increased thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) in male rats 🐀 and led to thyroid tumors. However, these doses—25,000 times greater than human exposure—were far beyond realistic consumption.

🚫That was enough for the FDA to ban the use of erythrosine in cosmetics 💄 where it was deemed non-essential, but saw no reason to ban it in food, stating that the risk to humans was negligible and suitable replacements were not available.

Indeed, the risk is negligible when considering the animal data that shows no evidence of carcinogenicity at any dose approaching human exposure. Yet, judging by effusive recent media reports, one would be led to think that a heavy yoke has been lifted from the neck of Americans with the banning of Red Dye #3 by the FDA.

The ban is not the result of some new research that implicates this dye as a felon lurking in the food supply. It is the result of years of legal wrangling about the application of an amendment to the 1938 Food, Drugs and Cosmetic Act known as the “Delaney Clause.”

Sponsored by Congressman James Delaney of New York, the amendment states “that the FDA shall not approve for use in food any chemical additive found to induce cancer in man, or, after tests, found to induce cancer in animals.”
The Delaney Clause presents carcinogenesis as a white or black issue when science is hardly ever white or black, it is shades of gray. It ignores the cornerstone of toxicology first voiced by the sage Paracelsus in the 16th century: Only the dose makes the poison ☠️

🇨🇦Health Canada has determined that while Red Dye #3 could be hazardous, it poses no risk, which I think is the correct evidence-based decision.

When it comes to food safety, banning Red Dye #3 is like flicking a flea off an elephant 🐘

https://mcgill.ca/x/wym

This article was first published in The Montreal Gazette. In the late 19th century, Germany was at the forefront of chemical research and it was an ideal place for Purdue University chemistry professor Dr. Harvey Washington Wiley to spend a sabbatical to broaden his horizons. After attending lecture...

01/27/2025

The term “food accessory factor” was coined by British biochemist Frederick Gowland Hopkins in 1906 after he demonstrated that rats fed a diet of proteins, fats, carbohydrates and minerals failed to grow 📈 Although these substances were known to be the major components of the food supply, they were not sufficient to maintain health 😷 When Hopkins supplemented the diet with minute amounts of milk, the rats thrived 🤩 There was something in the milk in addition to the usual nutrients, some “food accessory factor” that was necessary for growth.

Hopkins was not the first to make such an observation. Between 1878 and 1883, Kanehiro Takaki, a Japanese medical officer ⚕️ had studied the high incidence of “beriberi” among sailors in the Japanese navy. This was a terrible disease characterized by muscular degeneration, heart irregularities 🫀 and emaciation. Takaki found that on a ship where the diet was mostly polished rice, among 276 men, 169 cases of beriberi developed, and 25 men died during a nine-month period. On another ship, there were no deaths and only 14 cases of the disease. The difference was that the men on the second ship were given more meat, milk and vegetables 🥗🥩🥛

Casimir Funk, a Polish biochemist who had come to America, read an article by Eijkma, a Dutch physician, in which he described that people eating brown rice were less vulnerable to beriberi than those who ate only the fully milled product. Funk attempted to isolate the substance responsible and in 1912 finally succeeded. The compound turned out to belong to a family of molecules called amines, and Funk, thinking these were vital to life 🌱 introduced the term “vitamine.”

Funk suggested that diseases such as rickets, pellagra and scurvy were also vitamine deficiency conditions, an idea that had also occurred to Dutch researcher Gerrit Grijns. This turned out to be correct, but the deficiency factors were not all amines, and the ending “e” from “vitamin” was dropped to avoid confusion 🤨

Perhaps the most famous vitamin, vitamin C, was identified in 1932 by Albert Szent Gyorgyi as the substance that was needed in the diet to prevent scurvy 🤒

Vitamins really are vital to life, as well as to the profits of a thriving supplement industry 💸

https://mcgill.ca/x/wyM

01/26/2025

What do King Kong’s p**p, Gummi Bears and Jell-O have in common? They all feature a substance produced by heating an acidified extract of animal bones or skin referred to as “hydrolyzed collagen,” better known as “gelatin.”

Collagen is a protein found in the bones, skin and connective tissue of animals, including humans. It is not soluble in water, but when heated, especially in the presence of acid or alkali, the long chains of amino acids that make up collagen are broken down into smaller fragments called peptides. These are soluble in water, and if the water is allowed to evaporate, a solid that can be processed into sheets or a powder is left behind. This is gelatin.

🎥 For the 2005 King Kong remake, director Peter Jackson wanted realistic animal p**p for the ship’s cargo hold. The prop team studied zoo dung and crafted a mix of cocoa, cereal, mustard, salt, and gelatin 🧪 The chemistry of gelatin helped bind the fake p**p, and the film won an Oscar for Best Visual Effects.

Hans Riegel, founder of Haribo, created Gummi Bears in 1920 using fruit juice, sugar, and gum arabic, a sap-based thickener. Later, he replaced gum arabic with cheaper gelatin. Inspired by dancing bears seen at medieval festivals, Riegel shaped his candy as bears, initially called "Tanzbären" (Dancing Bears). Renamed "Goldbears" in 1960, today’s gummies feature modern ingredients like synthetic citric acid for tartness, corn syrup for cost savings, and wax for shine.

Jell-O predates Gummi Bears, with granulated gelatin patented in 1845. In 1897, Pearle Wait created Jell-O in LeRoy, NY—now home to the Jell-O Museum. Exhibits include vintage packaging, moulds, and a taxidermied giraffe 🦒 Why a giraffe? Because, as the ad says, “Jell-O feels so good when it slides down your throat ... and giraffes have longer throats for it to slide down!”

https://mcgill.ca/x/wCX

This article was first published in The Montreal Gazette. What do King Kong’s p**p, Gummi Bears and Jell-O have in common? They all feature a substance produced by heating an acidified extract of animal bones or skin referred to as “hydrolyzed collagen” but better known as “gelatin.” Colla...

01/25/2025

When we think about pioneers in science and medicine, the usual suspects are often “fathers of” something: the father of microbiology, the father of modern surgery, and so on. But Florence Nightingale, a 19th-century nurse, statistician, and public health advocate, was a pioneer in her own right — earning her place as the mother of data visualization and public health statistics.

Best known for her tireless work during the Crimean War, Nightingale revolutionized healthcare practices and significantly reduced mortality rates in military hospitals 🏥 But her legacy wasn’t just in nursing, it was her ability to communicate the urgency of sanitary reforms through the power of visual data.

Nightingale understood that improving sanitation—ventilation, clean water, and better waste management—could drastically reduce these deaths. But convincing politicians and military officials to invest 💲 in sanitary reforms required more than anecdotal evidence. It required data 📊

Enter the coxcomb diagram, or as it’s more commonly known today, the Rose Diagram. Designed in 1858, this circular chart visually represented monthly mortality rates in military hospitals, differentiating between deaths caused by 🔵 preventable diseases (blue), 🟠 battle wounds (orange), and ⚫️ other causes (black).

What made Nightingale’s Rose Diagram revolutionary wasn’t just its aesthetic appeal — it was its ability to tell a story:

➡️ Before-and-After Impact: Nightingale created two diagrams—one showing mortality before reforms and one after—using the same scale to highlight a dramatic decline in deaths.
➡️ Seasonal Patterns: The circular design showed how preventable deaths spiked in certain months, urging consistent sanitation efforts.
➡️ Clarity in Trends: Using square root scaling, Nightingale emphasized overall trends instead of extreme outliers, making data easier to grasp.

Nightingale’s Rose was impactful precisely because it translated complex data into a compelling visual narrative, creating understanding among non-scientific audiences. With modern access to design tools and graphics today, readers should be aware that the striking nature of data visualization design can be used for both harm and good.

https://mcgill.ca/x/wC2

01/23/2025

Drug mules, or couriers smuggling drugs across borders, conceal substances in luggage linings, clothes, strapped to their bodies, or internally. Those who swallow or "stuff" drugs face severe risks, as pellets—often he**in or co***ne—can leak or rupture inside the body, leading to potentially fatal outcomes. Many couriers take on this role for money, though some are coerced under threats.

A case at Lincoln Medical Center involved a 20-year-old Hispanic woman who flagged down EMS, reporting discomfort after using co***ne. She later suffered seizures and presented with a heart rate of 140–160 bpm, resistant to multiple interventions. Intubation became necessary as her condition deteriorated with oxygen saturation dropping to the 70s%. CPR was performed for 21 minutes after cardiac arrest, and she was eventually stabilized under hypothermia protocol in the ICU 🏥

Her family identified her, reporting she had been missing and noting her enlarged abdomen. Despite a negative abdominal x-ray and normal bowel movements, her condition worsened 🩻 A chest x-ray revealed pneumonia, and a CT scan performed after finding drug packets in her diaper uncovered multiple foreign bodies in her stomach, sigmoid colon, and re**um, with some leaking. The scan also showed small bowel intussusception.

Emergency surgery confirmed the presence of condom-packed drugs. She underwent gastrotomy, enterotomy, and removal of all packets. Recovery in the surgical ICU was unremarkable, and she was extubated 2 days post-op.
This case highlights the limitations of plain radiographs in detecting drug packets. A plain radiograph is more cost-and time-efficient than other imaging modalities to screen suspicious individuals, however, in a case of high suspicion, especially when there is imminent health danger, a CT might be warranted.

A study found CT to be 100% accurate in detecting co***ne containers in a drug mule’s body and only 70% with digital x-ray.
X-rays may not be enough to detect the presence of concealed drugs in the body due to “overlap of intestinal air, f***s or other dense structures.” Moreover, visibility of the foreign bodies depends on the wrapping material.

https://mcgill.ca/x/wCb

***ne

Human drug couriers, colloquially known as “drug mules,” are people who smuggle drugs across a national border by hiding the drugs in the lining of their luggage, in clothes, by strapping the goods onto their bodies, or even by using their bodies as containers. The latter category of drug mules ...

01/22/2025

The dairy 🧀 industry is smiling because a study published in the prestigious journal, Nature, concluded that “dairy products help protect against colorectal cancer, and that this is driven largely or wholly by the calcium they contain.” The study triggered headlines about how drinking a glass of milk 🥛 a day can reduce the risk of colon cancer by 17%. That isn’t quite correct.

Three years into a seventeen-year-long study in the UK that began in 1996, half a million women were asked 130 questions about the frequency and amounts of foods that they had consumed during the previous seven days 🍽️. These surveys are problematic hence people don't always remember what they ate and their dietary habits may have changed over time 🥐🍏🥦🍔

Subsequent to the diet survey, the women’s health was monitored for fourteen years during which time some 12,000 were diagnosed with colon cancer. On average, these were the women who consumed less than the recommended amount of calcium, taking in roughly 800 mg a day. The women who were free of colon cancer averaged around 1100 mg. That’s a difference of 300 mg, which happens to be the amount of calcium in a glass of milk 🥛 This is how the media jumped to the conclusion that a glass of milk reduces the risk of colon cancer by 17%, which was the difference in the cancer incidence between the low and high calcium consumers.

The lifetime incidence of colon cancer in women is about 4%, meaning that 40 out of a thousand women will be diagnosed with the disease. If this incidence is reduced by 17%, as found in the study, then only 33 out of 1000 would be diagnosed. This means that 7 out of 1000 women with a below than the recommended intake of calcium will be saved from the disease by drinking a glass of milk a day. That is less than 1 in a hundred 😐

Here we have an example of how statistics are very useful when applied to a specific population, in this case, women who consume less than the recommended amount of calcium. But headlines suggesting that everyone can reduce the risk of colon cancer by drinking a glass of milk a day are misleading 🙄

https://mcgill.ca/x/wCE

The dairy industry is smiling because a study published in the prestigious journal, Nature, concluded that “dairy products help protect against colorectal cancer, and that this is driven largely or wholly by the calcium they contain.” The study triggered headlines about how drinking a glass of m...

01/15/2025

An article titled “Integration of lipidomics with targeted, single-cell, and spatial transcriptomics defines an unresolved pro-inflammatory state in colon cancer” doesn’t seem tied to ultra-processed foods. Yet, media reports twisted it to claim that cooking oils in these foods cause cancer.

Ultra-processed foods are those you can’t recreate at home, packed with emulsifiers, artificial flavors, preservatives, and other additives. They’re often sold in plastic, posing concerns about trace chemicals. These foods typically contain more fat, sugar, salt, and seed oils than homemade meals, making them highly palatable, cheap, and marketable.

So, what’s the link with “lipidomics” and colon cancer? Lipidomics studies fatty substances, including omega-6 fats from oils in ultra-processed foods, which make up over 50% of our food supply. Omega-6 fats differ biologically from omega-3 fats, which help resolve inflammation. Chronic inflammation, fueled by a lack of omega-3s, can damage tissues, creating a cancer-friendly environment.

The study analyzed colon cancer and normal tissues, finding more inflammatory compounds from omega-6 fats in tumors. Authors suggested an imbalance of omega-3 to omega-6 fats due to ultra-processed foods might explain rising colorectal cancer rates in young people. But no data supports this claim—diets weren’t assessed, and the actual increase in young patients is minor.

Yet, numerous press reports trumpeted this study as demonstrating that cooking oils cause cancer. Sheer fear-mongering.

Still, increasing omega-3 intake is beneficial. Fish is the best source, but nuts, flax, and chia seeds also help. Still, the most effective fix is to cut down on the foods that have the poorest ratio of omega-3s to omega-6s, namely the ultra-processed varieties.

Epidemiological studies like “NutriNet-Santé” and “Biobank” linked ultra-processed food consumption to heart disease, cancer, earlier mortality, and even psoriasis. Other studies linked these foods to cognitive decline, depression, and inflammatory bowel disease. True, these studies only show association and cannot prove cause-and-effect, but they all point in the same direction, which raises concerns.

https://mcgill.ca/x/wjN

This article was first published in The Montreal Gazette. Ultra-processed foods! Scarcely does a day go by without some article emerging about these dietary devils decimating our health. Indeed, just as I was trying to put the finishing touches to this article about these demons, up pops yet another...

01/14/2025

Some stories are absurd enough to need debunking. Muluwork Ambaw, a 26-year old Ethiopian woman, claims no food or water have passed her lips since 2010. There’s no mystery about how she accomplished this feat. She hasn’t. The only question is how she has fooled so many 🤔

The 1st law of thermodynamics states energy can’t be created or destroyed, only transformed. Everything we do—moving, thinking—requires energy from food 🍴 Without food, the body burns fat and proteins until it can’t sustain basic functions, leading to death.

Surviving without food may last up to 70 days 🥪 but without water, it’s about 5 💧 Without water, nutrients cannot be delivered into cells, the kidneys cannot flush out waste, temperature cannot be regulated through sweating, joints can’t be lubricated, and digestion cannot occur.

During starvation, the body switches from burning carbs to stored fats and proteins. This reduces the need for vitamins and electrolytes temporarily, but reintroducing glucose increases electrolyte demand, especially phosphate. Without it, cellular processes falter, causing muscle weakness and possibly fatal heart 🫀 or respiratory issues 🫁

Ambaw’s story, popularized by travel blogger Drew Binsky, raises eyebrows. Villagers claim she hasn’t eaten, and her passport supposedly proves doctor visits in Qatar and Dubai where she claimed to have been sent by the prime minister of Ethiopia to be examined by doctors who found her healthy 🩺

Are there any reports from doctors observing her under controlled conditions? Nope. Filming for two days and speaking to publicity-seeking neighbors isn’t evidence. Ambaw offers no credible explanation, claiming it’s the will of God.

She may appear unassuming, but her tale is a calculated fraud. From afar, the exact methods remain unclear, but it’s certain food isn’t absent from her life 🚨

https://mcgill.ca/x/wjp

This article was first published in The Montreal Gazette. Sometimes you come across a story that seems shadowy enough to beg for a little illumination. Muluwork Ambaw, a 26-year old Ethiopian woman, claims that no food or water have passed her lips since 2010. There is no mystery about how she may h...

01/13/2025

Scientists caution against creating artificial life forms, specifically bacteria, whose molecules are slightly different from ours.

They conclude, “We therefore recommend that research with the goal of creating mirror bacteria not be permitted, and that funders make clear that they will not support such work.” 🙅💲

They envision mirror bacteria evading our immune system, surviving our best antibiotics, and ravaging plant and animal life. A macroscopic apocalypse caused by microscopic bullets.

🪞What exactly is mirror life and why are these scientists so scared?

DNA and proteins in life forms are chiral—like left and right hands. Life on Earth uses “right-handed” DNA and “left-handed” amino acids. Mirror life would flip these molecules, using left-handed DNA and right-handed amino acids. Although these forms don’t exist in nature, labs can create mirror molecules.

Mirror molecules are already being tested for their stability in drugs 💊 Protein-based medications, like semaglutide or biologics for autoimmune diseases, often degrade too quickly in the body. Scientists are exploring mirror versions of these proteins to make treatments longer-lasting.

Scientists warn that mirirror bacteria could evade the immune system, as flipped molecules don’t bind to immune receptors 🦠 They might also resist degradation by enzymes, growing unchecked in the body.

In the environment, these bacteria could thrive on achiral nutrients like glycerol and bypass natural predators like phages. Lab leaks or misuse could unleash these invisible invaders.

“We are hopeful,” the paper’s authors write, “that scientists and society at large will take a responsible approach to managing a technology that might pose unprecedented risks.”

Here’s hoping.

https://mcgill.ca/x/wjf

One of the better-known episodes of the original Star Trek series is called “Mirror, Mirror” and it dramatizes a freak transporter accident which sends Kirk, Uhura, Bones, and Scotty to an alternate universe. Their mirror universe colleagues on the Enterprise are greedy, violent, and bent on con...

01/10/2025

The year was 1618, the place, Epsom, England. The farmer had just dug a well for his cows but the animals refused to drink the water💧Why? It was bitter! The water was undrinkable, but it would do for washing, he figured. That’s when he discovered that rubbing his body with the bitter water had a therapeutic 😌 A skin rash disappeared, and his aching muscles stopped aching. When the water evaporated, it left behind some white crystals. The farmer had discovered “Epsom salt!” To this day, magnesium sulfate is marketed as “bath salt” to be added to water to a bath to relieve stress and soothe aching muscles 🛁 Magnesium compounds fulfil another role. When ingested, they are effective laxatives 🚽

The adult human body contains a small amount of magnesium, about 25 grams, mostly in the bones and tissues with about 1% circulating in the blood 🩸 Enzymes are biological catalysts that are required by the chemical reactions that are going on in the body all the time that together constitute life . In about 300 of these reactions the enzymes require magnesium as a co-factor in order to function.

All the magnesium the body needs has to be acquired from the diet and the ideal daily intake for adults has been determined to be in the 300-400 milligram range 🍌🥔 Many people do not consume the “ideal” amount but that doesn’t mean they are deficient because the kidneys are very adept at regulating excretion. If there is less coming in, less is excreted.

There are some situations in which actual deficiency can occur 🤒 Alcoholics, people suffering from inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and type 2 diabetics can benefit from supplements which are readily available.

The internet is rife with websites and videos that call magnesium the “magic mineral” 🙄 and identify tiredness, constipation, cramps, palpitations, tingling in the hands or feet, headaches and anxiety as symptoms of magnesium deficiency. While this is correct, these symptoms also occur with numerous other conditions.

Magnesium is certainly a necessary nutrient, but it does not perform miracles. A “healthy diet” that is based on fruits, vegetables and whole grains provides sufficient amounts 👍🏻

https://mcgill.ca/x/wjw

The year was 1618, the place, Epsom, England. The farmer had just dug a well for his cows but the animals refused to drink the water. On tasting the water, he quickly discovered why. It was bitter! The water was undrinkable, but it would do for washing, he figured. That’s when he discovered that r...

01/07/2025

Ice cream 🍦 milk 🥛 cheese 🧀 butter 🧈and yogurt haunt the dreams of the lactose-intolerant. Over 68% of the global population struggles to digest lactose, the sugar in dairy products. Before lactose-free milk, sufferers relied on Lactaid pills 💊containing lactase, the enzyme breaking lactose into absorbable glucose and galactose. Now, lactose-free milk eliminates that hassle! 🥛

Lactose is a disaccharide, made of two sugars: glucose and galactose. Only monosaccharides can be absorbed, so enzymes break them down. Lactase, produced in the small intestine by cells lining the brush border, splits lactose. If lactase production is deficient, undigested lactose ferments in the colon, causing bloating, pain, and, well, unpleasant washroom trips 🚽💨

For those who love dairy but lack lactase, lactose-free milk has been a game changer since 1985, thanks to the USDA Agricultural Research Service. Sold widely today, it must meet clear labeling rules: “lactose-free” must mean zero lactose, and “low-dairy” must show significant reduction. How? Through lactose hydrolysis and membrane filtration.

This two-step process begins with pre-hydrolysis: lactase is added to raw milk before pasteurization to break down lactose, with heat removing residual enzyme. Filtration reduces sugar. In the second step, sterile lactase is added to milk in its package (aseptic post-hydrolysis). Filtration ensures the milk is completely lactose-free and can even extend shelf life. Essentially, lactase does the heavy lifting, naturally breaking down lactose 🧪

Lactose-free milk tastes sweeter, though it has the same sugar content. The glucose formed during processing reacts faster in the Maillard Reaction, a browning process enhancing flavor but sometimes adding a caramelized or "eggy" taste. Lower pasteurization temperatures and hygienic lactase use reduce this effect, making it taste closer to regular milk.

Lactose-free milk is still dairy and unsafe for those with dairy allergies. Allergies involve the immune system and can be life-threatening, unlike intolerances, which affect digestion and are non-lethal.

So, if you are lactose-intolerant, you can still thank cows for your lactose-free milk 🐄 However, the true hero is lactase, without which most of your day would be spent on the porcelain throne regretting your dietary decisions.

https://mcgill.ca/x/wVU

Ice cream, milk, cheese, yogurt, cream, butter and all other dairy products haunt the dreams of people with lactose intolerance. Over 68% of the world’s population has some degree of lactose malabsorption which is the inability to properly digest lactose, the sugar found in dairy products. Until t...

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Videos

Dr. Joe Mercola is practically synonymous with the wellness movement. He sells dietary supplements, opposes vaccines, and claims to want to help you improve your health. But can he be trusted? Jonathan Jarry, science communicator with McGill University’s Office for Science and Society, takes you on a wild ride from Mercola’s daily newsletter, full of cherry-picked half-truths, to answering the question of exactly who writes all of his articles, to the supernatural entity that is now giving him business advice. If you thought Mercola was just a genial, avuncular health influencer, you’re in for a shock. Want to watch the full video? 🔗 https://youtu.be/y3N9LpiibU4?si=yKbnfJJNnzUVtx4X #JoeMercola #Mercola #SciComm #McGill #McGillOSS #Wellness

25th Anniversary Video

Thank you to all our friends who sent us messages on our 25 years of separating sense from nonsense. We could not do what we do without partners like you!

Edison invents the lightbulb. Really?

It's our silver anniversary! 25 years of separating sense from nonsense! Join us next Thursday as we discuss how the OSS came to be, and some of the fun (and challenges) in communicating good science.

A Bagel With No Hole You Say??? Whaaaat? Yup...the @stviateurbagel and @philly_canada “whole” bagel has no hole. Here is the whole story. #stviateurbagel #philadelphiacreamcheese #creamcheese #bagel #bagels #noholebagel #nohole #phillybagelwholes #phillybagels #philadelphia #montreal #montrealbagels #montrealfood #stviateur

There’s been some confusion on our iron deficiency and Gold Smudge video… So to clarify, here’s the full explanation! 👑 #youasked #goldsmudge #blackdermographism #iron #makeup #irondeficiency #lowiron #viral #stitch #scicomm #science #evidencebased #evidence #mcgill #sciencecommunication #scienceiscool #sciencerocks #scienceoutreach #didyouknow #dyk #misinformation