In recent years, tons of milk alternatives have opened up for those who are lactose intolerant or vegan. These include almond milk, oat milk, soy milk, and now, laboratory milk. Food conglomerate Unilever has announced that they are creating cow-free dairy milk that may soon be used to make Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream and other classic treats.
Unilever would be using a process called “precision fermentation,” which involves creating animal proteins using special genetic-encoded organisms. Although it sounds futuristic, this technique is not new and has been used in a variety of startups such as Upside Food’s lab-grown meat.
First, genetic material for the desired product is inserted into a “host,” such as yeast or fungi strains. Inside fermentation tanks, the host cells will foster the growth of the animal-based genetic information, eventually producing a product almost identical to milk from a dairy cow.
The process has gained traction in the past few years as the cost of manufacturing genetically-modified cells has decreased significantly. Investors have already poured millions into the upcoming precision fermentation of honey, collagen, lobster, and much more. If Unilever is successful, it will be the first to offer consumers ice cream made through precision fermentation.
There are numerous pros of precision fermentation technology. Cattle farming is the number one producer of greenhouse gases in the entire agriculture industry, and each cow will release around 220 pounds of methane per year. If precision fermentation is scaled enough to satisfy consumer needs, it would decrease greenhouse gas emissions by magnitudes. For those concerned about animal abuse, the technology would effectively eradicate any killing of livestock, especially if meat becomes mass-produced in laboratories.
However, the biggest con with precision fermentation is that which we are yet to know. Experts have expressed concerns about the lack of transparency associated with large companies being in control of such a process. When you buy a gallon of milk in the store, you know that it came from a cow and went through numerous purification processes outlined by the FDA. With lab-grown products, there are many variables that consumers may not be privy to, such as the ingredients in the nutrient mix used to culture the animal-based cells.
Also, the FDA has chosen to not label this category of food as “genetically modified,” as it is only produced with genetically modified organisms and is not containing them. Many more questions exist around regulations, allergen standards, and the possible monopolization of the food sector.
