Is that extra charge for non-dairy milk discrimination?
Customers who are lactose-intolerant or have milk allergies may pay $2 extra at Dunkin’ Donuts when substituting oat or almond milk for dairy in their beverages. That’s discrimination, according to a class-action lawsuit filed last month. “Being able to drink milk is a choice for some people, but it’s not for others. Lactose intolerance is a disability […]
The curious case of lactose intolerance
Having to rush to the toilet in the middle of a movie, with a tummy that is producing audible, rumbling sounds can be an embarrassing experience. “Not to mention the endless ribbing from friends that you have to put up with,” says Pramod, a marketing executive. “A group of us friends had met up for dinner […]
A Fresh History of Lactose Intolerance
Six decades ago, Pedro Cuatrecasas, a fledgling resident at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, was studying the lives of impoverished residents of Baltimore when he noticed an unsettling trend. In interviews, a number of his Black patients would confess that they found milk repellent. The consistency of their laments alarmed Cuatrecasas. He suspected, after […]
How lactose tolerance in humans became widespread
Milk has often been branded as a superfood as it is rich in most of the nutrients necessary for health. However, how milk came to be an integral part of the human diet has been a conundrum to scientists because most of the world can’t digest the product. Studies on the global prevalence of this […]
Everything we thought about the origins of lactose tolerance is wrong
A new study published today in the journal Nature by University of Bristol and University College London researchers found that people’s ability to digest lactose became common almost 5,000 years later than the first signs of human milk consumption, which date back to around 6,000 BC. They also found, using new computer modeling methods, that […]
Ancient Europeans were lactose intolerant. They drank milk anyway.
A group of scientists has concluded that ancient Europeans drank milk for millennia despite the digestive problems it may have caused, casting doubt on theories on how humans evolved to tolerate it. Scientists have long speculated that an enzyme needed to avoid any gastrointestinal discomfort developed rapidly in populations where domesticating dairy animals was prevalent. […]
Ancient Europeans farmed dairy—but couldn’t digest milk
Over the past 10,000 years, populations living far apart in Europe, Africa, South Asia, and the Middle East separately acquired a key genetic change: the ability to digest the milk sugar lactose as adults. Researchers thought people who had that ability and lived in dairy farming cultures got a nutritional boost and had more children, […]
Get your food facts right on milk and milk products: FAQ by FSSAI
What is meant by SNF and total solids in milk? Is there any regulatory requirement for this parameter? SNF or solids not fat is that nutrient portion present in milk which is other than milk fat and water. It consists of protein (primarily casein and lactalbumin), carbohydrates (primarily lactose), and minerals (including calcium and phosphorus. […]