8 hours ago
- The story of MIT's notorious 27-year-old milk carton illustrates how discarded items can become subjects of scientific curiosity.
- Louis Pasteur's experiments on fermentation and pasteurization proved that microorganisms cause spoilage, leading to modern food safety practices.
- Probiotics are live microorganisms marketed as beneficial, but many products like probiotic tea may contain heat-resistant spores that survive boiling water.
- The author's experiment culturing BC30 (Bacillus coagulans) from Bigelow probiotic tea showed bacterial growth even after boiling, due to spore formation.
- BC30 spores are heat-resistant and shelf-stable, but the clinical dose required for digestive benefits is far higher than found in a cup of tea.
- The probiotic industry's health claims often lack rigorous efficacy evidence, as GRAS designation only requires safety proof from the manufacturer.
- Pasteurization kills harmful microbes but not all bacteria, while sterilization requires higher temperatures; most probiotics are not required to undergo clinical trials.
- Understanding microbial communities may lead to dietary interventions rather than single-species probiotics for gut health.