CALF_News_February_March_2020

14 CALF News • February | March 2020 • www.calfnews.net CALF ANIMAL HEALTH Chuteside Manner EXPLORING THE FRONTIER OF ANIMAL HEALTH Synthetic Milk, Synthetic Burgers The Avalanche Comes Down By Patti Wilson Contributing Editor A s of late, we all have heard about the “veggie burger” syndrome; we must forsake animal products in order to save the planet, and in order to be kind. With newsfeeds coming across my desk daily, I finally found myself sufficiently disgusted at the speed of which synthetic food production has progressed, and the level of acceptance it has gained in our country. The straw that broke this camel’s back was found on a business news network in early November. Is Silicon Valley our new food source? In Berkley, Calif., a startup company is now producing lab-grown milk compo- nents whey and casein. Perfect Day is churning out dairy products that are 100 percent chemically the same as compo- nents in cow’s milk. LEFT: Synthetic food upstarts are looking for a way to provide our food in a kinder, cleaner and more responsible manner. Primarily, they plan to produce it in factory vats. Ryan Pandya and Perumel Gandhi share a background in medicine, using medical technology in the modifica- tion of bacteria. Using the recombinant protein production technique, bovine genetic materials are inserted into microflora cells, making them genetically modified organisms (GMOs). They are grown in vats called bioreactors. Casein and whey are harvested from their resulting broth. The Oct. 17, 2019, issue of Hoard’s Dairyman Magazine reports that this method of production is similar to how some pharmaceutical products and other food ingredients are produced on a com- mercial scale. Insulin for diabetics and omega-3 fatty acids for supplements are examples. Perfect Day ice cream has been on the market since last July and has recently been selling for $20 per pint. The com- pany’s website says it loves dairy prod- ucts but “doesn’t like the harmful way it’s produced.” It calls its products “cruelty free” and claims to be free of hormones, lactose, cholesterol, pathogens, gluten and antibiotics. They further claim their ingredients are considered Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) by the FDA and therefore do not require FDA approval prior to marketing. What’s a GMO product and what’s not? Hoard’s Dairyman further shed light on the claim that cell-based animal products, including Perfect Day, claim to be GMO-free, despite being directly derived from genetically modified micro- flora. A representative for Non-GMO Project, a primary leader in non-GMO verification said that under its stan- dards, these products are not considered non-GMO. This situation appears to be setting up a long battle for traditionally raised food products. As the floodgates open, there are many other startup companies working feverishly on non-animal foods. Hamp- ton Creek, for example, is developing eggless mayonnaise. Microflora-produced proteins and veggie burgers must not be confused with “cultured meat,” another lab-grown protein made from muscle tissue har- vested from animals. We can no longer wave off the prospect of plant-based or microflora-produced foods by saying they won’t taste right. Plans are in the works now for bacteria to produce cell-cultured animal fats to blend with vegetable burgers, making them taste even more like the real thing.