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Globe and Mail
20 minutes ago
- Globe and Mail
Looking for sunscreen advice? Listen to the experts, not social media
Spending less time on your phone could be better for your skin. 'There's a huge group of people that are walking away from sunscreen because of online naysayers, and worried that sunscreen is more of a risk than sun exposure,' says Dr. Sonya Cook, a dermatologist and co-owner of Compass Dermatology in Toronto. Sun-care misinformation continues to proliferate on social media, increasing people's uncertainty over a range of issues including whether sun exposure is needed as a source of vitamin D, and the environmental impact of reef-safe sunscreen formulas. Questioning ingredient safety is a leading headline. 'There is a very anti-chemical-sunscreen movement that's happening in North America,' says Dr. Julian Sass, adding that the movement is strongest in the United States. The Montreal-based cosmetic chemist has a website featuring a searchable database of more than 500 sunscreen reviews. Categorized by the type of filters used to minimize the damage of UV exposure, sunscreens are commonly described as either mineral or chemical. Mineral ingredients include zinc oxide and titanium dioxide, while chemical filters encompass a larger lineup, such as avobenzone, homosalate, octocrylene and Mexoryl. In the past few years, irritation associated with the chemical filter oxybenzone has led many brands to remove it or distance themselves from the ingredient. It has also emboldened some in the clean-beauty movement to spread mistrust. In a recent case of fearmonger marketing, L.A.-based company Primally Pure launched its debut mineral sun-care range with the tagline 'poison-free SPF.' However, the experts in skin health are firm that evidence is lacking. 'We have over 50 years of data that sunscreen reduces your risk of skin cancer, especially non-melanoma, and photo aging,' says Cook. 'There's no evidence the ingredients are harmful, and many of them are known to be completely safe.' A key difference between the categories is the composition of the lotion, cream or gel and how it looks on skin once applied. 'With chemical sunscreens you just have to dissolve the filters well and it's a lot easier to get a decent SPF without a white cast,' explains Sass. Minerals, on the other hand, require powders that are challenging to disperse well into a product. The result often leaves skin looking ghostly, especially among those with medium to dark complexions. 'Making a cosmetically elegant mineral sunscreen takes a lot more time, which is more money, but it's what a lot of people who are clean-beauty-conscious are asking for,' says Sass. 'So the market has to fit the demands of the consumer, no matter how misinformed it is.' 'If someone has more sensitive skin, I might steer them toward a mineral product, but I use a blend of both mineral and chemical sunscreens,' says Dr. Julia Carroll, a dermatologist and co-owner of Compass. When applying, use more than you think you need (a teaspoon for face, neck and chest, one ounce for the body). 'Put your sunscreen on when you're naked, and don't skip going right up to the hair line, on the ears or back of the neck,' she says. Whichever type you prefer, the experts agree that a higher price tag doesn't mean you're getting a better product. 'If it has broad-spectrum protection, it's SPF 30 or higher, and it's a formulation that you're happy to use, then there's no need to spend more money,' says Carroll. Affordable sun protection from head to toe, starting at $14.
Globe and Mail
20 minutes ago
- Globe and Mail
Meet the doughnut disruptor of Almonte, Ontario
Is there a way to build a better doughnut? Ed Atwell thinks so. Whether he's in the fried sweet business or actually in the technology business, the Almonte, Ontario entrepreneur is all about ingenuity. The owner of Healthy Food Technologies Inc. (HFT), didn't set out to reinvent the fryer. Mr. Atwell simply wanted to make a novelty doughnut. It was called the Sunny Moon, a two-tone concoction that's half chocolate and half vanilla. He patented the doughnut about 25 years ago, and it became the inspiration for a much larger idea. Making the Sunny Moon took some creativity, as it's tough to make a 'seamless' doughnut, says Mr. Atwell. That got him thinking about frying techniques and ways to make doughnuts lighter. Fifteen years ago, he came up with a low-fat process where the dough would go into a fryer, then get transferred to an oven just before it would absorb most of the oil. He had to build a combo deep fryer and oven to pull it off. As he explains, the oil is used to 'toast' the doughnut, which then spends 60 per cent of its cooking time in the oven, which is heated to the same 375 degrees. That 'tricks' the doughnut into thinking it's still being heated by the oil, Mr. Atwell says. To describe how the dough reacts when heat is transferred, Mr. Atwell coined the term exohypothermia. With the dough no longer in oil, it stops acting like a sponge. The result is a fried product that retains its flavor and texture but contains a fraction of the fat – about 50 to 70 per cent less fat than its deep-fried counterparts. Mr. Atwell has taken a winding path through the doughnut industry. He worked in management for Country Style, and honed his skills at Tim Hortons in Nova Scotia, where he opened stores and trained bakers. 'A doughnut has its own language,' he says. After working as a consultant for the industry, he created the Sunny Moon doughnut. Later, his first attempts at designing a new baking method involved combining a deep fryer with an old pizza oven. 'I was just trying to prove a theory.' He bought a building in an industrial park in Almonte, and converted it into a doughnut-making R&D facility in 2010. During the process of perfecting his technique, Mr. Atwell had loads of doughnuts left over. So he just started giving them away to the local grocery store and police station. Eventually, he stuck a small sign outside HFT that read 'doughnuts today' and word spread. In 2013, he added a storefront. Now, his full-production doughnut shop employs 10 people. 'For the longest time we were growing at 35 per cent per year,' says Mr. Atwell. Though the COVID-19 pandemic slowed down that rate, 'We haven't lost growth either, which in these economic times is huge.' Before he opened his shop, a large doughnut manufacturer had expressed interest in buying Mr. Atwell's technology, but the deal never materialized. He says his pitch was perhaps too bold for the corporate world. 'You've been making doughnuts the wrong way for 50 years. That's a tough sell.' Still, focusing on the byproduct of the process – the actual doughnut – instead of just trying to sell or license the technology was the right strategy for HFT, says Mark Freel, a professor of entrepreneurship at the Telfer School of Management, University of Ottawa. 'Turning it into his own products is probably the best way to monetize his own technology,' says Mr. Freel, whose research focuses on innovation, and how firms create and capture value. He says that if you're a small company, like a doughnut shop in Almonte, some multinational might purchase your technology or pay you royalties for its use. But it doesn't happen often. The best thing to do is use that technology to make your own goods 'and make a great reputation doing it – that's how you make money.' HFT has a cult following in Almonte and beyond. Word-of-mouth has brought doughnut pilgrims from across Ontario. One time, a Toronto company sent an Uber driver through the night to pick up 10 dozen doughnuts for a morning meeting. 'That was probably the craziest thing we ever saw happen,' says Mr. Atwell. Devotees love the shop's lower-fat wares, yet the doughnut's appeal goes far beyond the nutritional breakdown. 'Oil gives a negative flavour after time,' says Mr. Atwell. 'But when you heat a product like bread, it enhances the flavour. So we have a product that's lower in fat, but actually has more flavour.' While he has a successful doughnut shop, Mr. Atwell still talks up his technology. Besides the flavour and low-fat benefits, he says his process can deliver significant cost savings, mainly through oil saved, and can virtually pay for itself within a year. Even though he feels like his technology can disrupt doughnut-making, Mr. Atwell is content to let the process unfold naturally. Maybe one day it will take over the commercial market. Until then, 'I look at the technology like a tree. I'll plant it and it'll grow as it wants to.'
National Post
36 minutes ago
- National Post
OBIO® Supports A4i to Expand Canadian Presence Through New Partnership With Waypoint Centre for Mental Health Care
Article content TORONTO — Among patients with complex behavioural and mental health conditions, 23% face re-hospitalization within 30 days of discharge and 75% stop taking their medications after 18 months. Patient populations with severe mental illness require high patient engagement and support. To address this issue, A4i (App4Independence) offers patients an opportunity to play an active role in their care via a mobile application, promoting greater autonomy. Additionally, A4i's clinical portal provides their care team with the necessary insights to identify the risk of a relapse, allowing for earlier intervention. Article content With funding support from OBIO's Life Sciences Critical Technologies & Commercialization (LSCTC) Centre of Excellence to adopt and implement the technology, A4i has secured a contract with the Waypoint Centre for Mental Health Care, one of Ontario's most highly specialized mental health facilities, which offers a range of mental health and addiction services, including specialized care for individuals living with severe mental illness. This partnership is a key milestone for A4i, as it advances commercialization and ROI demonstration in the Canadian healthcare landscape. Article content In 2024, A4i completed a successful evaluation at the Royal Ottawa Health Centre through OBIO's Early Adopter Health Network (EAHN™), making the technology available for wider dissemination among network healthcare organizations interested in acquiring A4i. With this partnership, A4i is broadening the adoption of its digital platform in Canada, expanding its commercialization with hospital partners in the province of Ontario. Article content 'By empowering people with the tools to manage their care, while giving clinicians meaningful, real-time insight, we're solving real-world challenges to improve continuity of care, reducing relapse risk, and supporting recovery beyond the walls of the hospital,' said Amos Adler, Co-Founder of A4i and CEO of MEMOTEXT. Article content The implementation of the A4i technology at Waypoint will be driven by A4i's 'health at home' initiative. As Waypoint covers a large geographical area, much of which is rural, patients often lack the necessary support within the community. Through the A4i app and portal, individuals with severe mental illness who are either transitioning back to the community from inpatient care or outpatients using community services, will now have another layer of support and connectivity with their care team to help them thrive. Article content 'This milestone partnership between the Waypoint Centre for Mental Health Care and A4i demonstrates the real-world benefits that can be achieved when digital innovation is pursued and critical technologies are deployed within the life sciences sector,' said Vic Fedeli, Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade. 'By investing in organizations like OBIO ®, our government is committed to strengthening this leading industry, ensuring that we not only build on our past successes, but lay a foundation for competitiveness and economic growth for generations to come. We congratulate Waypoint, A4i, and OBIO ® on this collaboration and look forward to seeing their combined expertise support patients and care teams across Ontario.' Article content 'We're thrilled to harness technology to enhance our clients' recovery, with A4i offering timely resources and peer support to complement our team's care,' commented Kevin Young, Vice-President Medical Affairs and Chief of Staff at Waypoint. Article content 'The adoption of A4i's technology at Waypoint is a game changer for individuals with complex behavioural and mental health conditions, providing them with the tools and support they need to be empowered in their healthcare decisions and stay engaged with their healthcare team,' said Dr. Maura Campbell, President and CEO of OBIO ®. 'We are delighted to have facilitated the evaluation and adoption of this technology through our EAHN™ and LSCTC programs.' Article content ABOUT: Article content A4i Article content A4i (App4Independence) is a validated mobile app and clinical portal that supports individuals with schizophrenia and complex mental illnesses like opioid use disorder. A4i offers self-management features such as AI-driven wellness detection, adherence escalations, secure peer engagement, and a patented auditory hallucination detector. Designed to scale clinical decision support and peer support, A4i predicts relapse and risk. Founded in 2018 as a spin-off from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), Canada's leading mental health and addiction research hospital, A4i was co-created with MEMOTEXT Corp. to empower recovery journeys for individuals facing challenges such as psychosis-related illness and opioid use disorders. Article content Article content Article content or contact Amos Adler CEO, A4i, Article content amos@ Article content Waypoint is a fully accredited academic and teaching hospital providing specialty mental health and addiction services and geriatric services for Simcoe County, Muskoka and central Ontario, as well as forensic mental health services for all of Ontario. As a regional provider of specialized services, the hospital has an extensive range of acute and longer-term psychiatric inpatient, outpatient and community-based program to meet the diverse needs of people of all ages, cultures and identities. Through our work and our Waypoint Research Institute, our team of forward-thinking experts provides leadership to the broader healthcare system. We harness partnership, innovation and research to advance understanding of mental health and addiction and improve lives locally and around the world. Article content ® Article content , a not-for-profit, membership-based organization dedicated to advancing health technology innovation and commercialization, evaluates new technologies through its Early Adopter Health Network (EAHN™), supported by the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario), and implements successful solutions using critical technologies through its Life Sciences Critical Technologies and Commercialization (LSCTC) Centre of Excellence, supported by the Government of Ontario. OBIO Article content ® Article content on Article content LinkedIn Article content and Article content X Article content . Article content Article content Article content Article content Article content Contacts Article content MEDIA CONTACTS: Article content A4i (App4Independence) Article content Article content Amos Adler Article content Article content CEO Article content Article content amos@ Article content Waypoint Centre for Mental Health Care Article content Travis Mealing Article content Article content Communications Officer Article content Article content mediainquiry@ Article content OBIO ® Article content Article content Doriane Rey Article content Article content Article content Article content
