Great news, garlic bread lovers! Scientists reckon they’ve found the fix for garlic breath. A new study has found that the most effective cure for allium-induced halitosis is none other than plain yoghurt, provided you act fast. 

According to the brains at Ohio State University the fat and protein contained in yoghurt prevents almost all of those acrid volatile compounds from escaping. The study, conducted by Manpreet Kaur and Prof Sheryl Barringer and published in the scientific journal Molecules, suggests that the fat, protein and water found in yoghurt not only masks the sulphur smell but neutralises up to 99 per cent of the odour. 

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The effect comes from the fats in the yoghurt binding to the pungent molecules, trapping and neutralising them, which means less making haste and more making out.

There is a catch though. In order for the miasma-muffling cure to work, it must be consumed immediately after eating the garlic – think of it as throwing water on a spark, rather than a blaze.

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