{
  "id": 3266735,
  "title": "Lactose intolerance is actually the human norm – but racism, the US government and business interests have made it into a condition",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/25/lactose-intolerance-is-actually-the-human-norm-but-racism-the-us",
  "topic": "science",
  "section": "Science",
  "published": "2026-08-25T12:45:41.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Conversation",
    "slug": "the-conversation",
    "url": "https://theconversation.com/lactose-intolerance-is-actually-the-human-norm-but-racism-the-us-government-and-business-interests-have-made-it-into-a-condition-286550"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Lactose intolerance affects a majority of the world's population, causing uncomfortable symptoms like bloating, nausea, and diarrhea. Despite this, many have come to view the condition as a defect rather than a natural variation. The idea that lactose intolerance is a problem was actually invented by scientists in the 1960s. This notion was driven by American dairy producers looking to dispose of excess milk and the government intervening to distribute it through school lunches. As more people began consuming milk regularly, scientists conducted experiments to understand why some individuals struggled to digest it. They concluded that lactose intolerance was an \"inborn error of metabolism\" and that a genetic mutation caused it, despite later discovering that lactose intolerance is actually the norm for most adults. This invention of lactose intolerance as a defect led to a phenomenon known as nutritional imperialism, where white diets, particularly dairy-rich ones, were considered the norm and others were deemed abnormal. This bias extended to other aspects of nutrition, such as meat-heavy diets and even the perception of certain racial groups as incapable of digesting alcohol effectively. The concept of lactose intolerance as a defect has influenced cultural attitudes towards dairy consumption worldwide, despite the fact that it is not a universal condition.",
  "summary": "The vast majority of people around the world are lactose intolerant. But American propaganda and scientific biases have made milk and dairy products a staple in global diets.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}