/oss/taxonomy/term/896/all en /oss/article/environment-health-news/moldyuuck <p>Molds can sometimes grow to an impressive size. A story has been making the rounds in Montreal about a large piece of mold being found in a sample of Oasis juice. You would think from the press coverage that such a thing has never been seen before. Another sample was found last March in a carton of Minute Maid orange juice in Britain. In that case a little girl got sick from drinking the juice. In Montreal it was just yuuuck.</p> Thu, 23 Jan 2014 03:32:00 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 2076 at /oss /oss/article/news-science-science-everywhere-you-asked/many-substinence-farmers-africa-grow-peanuts-why-are-they-being-encouraged-store-these-sacks-made <p style="text-align:justify"><a href="http://blogs.mcgill.ca/oss/?p=4304"><img alt="" height="150" src="http://blogs.mcgill.ca/oss/files/2013/03/peanuts-150x150.jpg" width="150" /></a>In North America we hear a great deal about chemicals such as plasticizers leaching out of plastic. In this case, though, the problem is not what the plastic releases but what it retains, namely, moisture. One of the main concerns about storing peanuts is contamination by the Aspergillus fungus which produces aflatoxins, a class of very nasty compounds. They are not destroyed by cooking and impair growth and immune function in children. But of even greater concern is their carcinogenicity. Aflatoxins cause liver cancer, a cancer which accounts for one fifth of all cancers in West African men. Most disturbing is that nearly all West Africans show evidence of aflatoxin exposure in their blood. The Aspergillus fungus occurs commonly in soil and can contaminate peanuts when they are spread out in the sun to dry. <a href="http://blogs.mcgill.ca/oss/2013/03/05/many-substinence-farmers-in-africa-grow-peanuts-why-are-they-being-encouraged-to-store-these-in-sacks-made-of-natural-fibers-instead-of-plastic/">Read more</a></p> Tue, 05 Mar 2013 17:30:20 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 1882 at /oss