Got GMO Synthetic Milk?

'Unlabeled And Unregulated'

Jan 12, 2024

∙ Paid

No antibiotics, no hormones. Just dairy. A new completely lactose-free dairy. Dairy without the cows?

Um, how does that work?

The fake milk, sold by Bored Cow, uses a wannabe whey protein – "microflora" called "ProFerm" made by their partner Perfect Day, “a consumer biology company on a mission to create a kinder, greener tomorrow by developing new ways to make the foods you love today — starting in the dairy aisle.”

They claim their product is a new kind of "animal-free" milk alternative "made with real milk protein from fermentation."

Health Research Institute (HRI), a nonprofit independent lab based in Fairfield, Iowa examined multiple samples of Bored Cow's "original" flavor milk using mass spectrometry to test the claim that the synthetic protein it contained was the same as real milk protein. HRI compared these results to samples of natural milk from grass-fed cows.

Their testing revealed 92 unknown molecules — and a fungicide — in "synthetic" milk protein used by more than a dozen food brands sold in common grocery chains.

The ingredients listed for Bored Cow's "original" flavor are:

"Water, animal-free whey protein (from fermentation), sunflower oil, sugar, less than 1% of vitamin A, vitamin B12 (cyanocobalamin), vitamin D2, riboflavin, citrus fiber, salt, dipotassium phosphate, acacia, gellan gum, mixed tocopherols (antioxidant), calcium potassium phosphate citrate, natural flavor."

This is a stew made with sorcery and mostly crap, starting with the sunflower oil which is an inflammatory seed oil that may be genetically modified as well. Meanwhile, the label does not specify whether the whey protein was produced through the genetic engineering of yeast. Also, the main input for fermentation is sugar — and they're using high fructose corn syrup, which is also a GMO product. It’s all gross and phony.

Aside from the host of unknown compounds, synthetic milk lacked many important micronutrients found in natural milk such as an omega-3 fatty acid, vitamin E, and some B vitamins. Additionally, forms of carnitine that are "really important for energy metabolism" were either missing or only present in trace amounts in the synbio product.

"There were 69 important nutrients present in natural milk, most of which were completely absent in synbio milk. A few were present in small or trace amounts," according to HRI's Chief Scientist and CEO John Fagan, Ph.D. Fagan — a molecular biologist and former cancer researcher at the National Institutes of Health — has been a worldwide pioneer in testing genetically modified organisms (GMOs).

Additionally, only eight compounds were identifiable. The rest were "uncharacterized" by scientific literature.

"The 92 unknown molecules we found have never been studied by scientists. So we don't know whether they're safe or dangerous, whether they are nutrients or toxins,” added Fagan.

Fagan found it concerning that the Bored Cow samples also contained an agricultural fungicide called Benthiavalicarb-isopropyl.

"I think the reason this fungicide is present is because they added it to the fermentation process to inhibit the growth of fungi that could contaminate the production system," he said, "So the things that we see here are not really good for us, let me put it that way."

HCI’s official report has not been published yet.

But suffice to say, these results contradict Perfect Day's claim that its product — used by Bored Cow — is "identical to what cows make."

Claiming the proteins are “molecularly identical to those produced by cows” is a lie.

Synthetic milk has never before been consumed by humans and has not undergone safety testing by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Milk from Moo to You

This slogan is no longer applicable.

Perfect Day claims ProFerm does not contain GMOs. The industry calls it 'precision fermentation' rather than 'genetic engineering.' Unlike plant-based alternatives like almond milk or soy milk, this stuff supposedly “tastes and performs the same way as real milk when used as an ingredient.”

Trix is for kids.

Perfect Day's website doesn't even use the word "GMOs" to explain its production process, instead, they describe "how [they] teach microflora to create sustainable protein."

Some call this DoubleSpeak.

‘Microflora’ is a nice term for GMO yeast.

“Synbio" — short for "synthetic biology" — is a method that uses genetic engineering to modify microorganisms like yeast, algae, or bacteria to produce novel products.

Looks like they are avoiding the negative connotations of Frankenstein faux food.

“The biotechnology industry is marketing this method as 'precision fermentation' because it exploits a natural process ... but it's actually a form of genetic engineering," states the Non-GMO Project.

Companies may claim that the GMO DNA is removed during the processing of the fermented proteins, but it is highly unlikely that they could remove all of the GMO DNA, say experts.

Current federal law does not require products that contain ProFerm to be labeled as bioengineered or as containing GMOs. The Non-GMO Project states that Synbio products go "unlabeled and unregulated in the marketplace."

The FDA does not carry out, commission, or require mandatory safety testing of GMOs that are entering the human food supply. Certain GMOs are regulated by other government agencies, such as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) or the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), based on potential environmental impacts. The FDA only looks at voluntary pre-market research that is designed and conducted by the companies making GMO products.

On March 25, 2020, the FDA sent Perfect Day a "no-questions" letter that classified ProFerm as "Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS)."

Given that Perfect Day's fermentation process does use GMOs, it is unclear how the FDA concluded the product could be "generally regarded as safe."

But hey when it comes to Public Hellth precautions don’t matter.

Synbio milk is called…

Got GMO Synthetic Milk?

'Unlabeled And Unregulated'

Milk from Moo to You

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