Ben & Jerry’s Embraces GM Ice Cream Protein?
Terry Etherton
April 27, 2007
Excerpt…
According to an article published in FoodNavigator.com, Unilever, the parent company of Ben & Jerry’s, one of the most visible anti-biotechnology ice cream makers in the United States, has moved closer to gaining approval in Europe to use an ice-structuring protein (ISP) isolated from genetically modified yeast.
In their Summary, the Advisory Committee on Novel Foods and Processes of the United Kingdom Food Standards Committee stated they were satisfied by the evidence provided by Unilever that the range of uses for its ice structuring protein preparation is acceptable, subject to the applicant’s adherence to the proposed specification and the production parameters described above.
An interesting paradox isn’t it? Ben & Jerry’s attacks the use of rbST in the dairy industry, which is perfectly safe. Yet, their parent company, Unilever is seeking regulatory approval in Europe to use ISP isolated from yeast that have been genetically engineered to produce ISP.
My view - it is wonderful science. Wonder what the folks at Ben & Jerry’s think?
Read more about this in the Foodnavigator.com article below.
Unilever moves closer with GM ice cream protein
By Jess Halliday
Foodnavigator.com
4/10/2007 - Low fat ice cream made using a GM yeast moved closer to being approved for the European market, as the FSA published its draft opinion on Unilever technology under novel foods regulation.
The consumer goods firm applied to the UK’s Food Standards Agency (FSA) for novel foods approval to use ice-structuring proteins derived from a fermented genetically modified baker’s yeast last year.
The draft opinion that the ISP preparation is acceptable subject to proposed parameters, on which the FSA is currently eliciting comments,is a step towards Unilever gaining the go-ahead for Europe. However the agency opines that consumers should be made aware that products made using the ISP, even though the GM yeast cells are removed from the final product.
ISPs are naturally occurring proteins and peptides found in living organisms such as fish, which protect them from tissue damage in very cold conditions by modifying the size and shape of ice-crystals.
Unilever found that type III ISPs from the cold water fish ocean pout could be used in ice-cream products to make a large number of very small ice crystals, as opposed to the small number of large crystals produced by conventional freezing techniques.
This ice-structure enables different kinds of formulations, such as low-fat.
However since the it would be unsustainable to use proteins directly from the fish, Unilever developed a fermentation process using the GM yeast carrying the synthetic gene encoding for the ISP.
The European Commission stated in a recent report that ingredients produced by fermentation using GM micro-organisms not present in the final product do not fall under GM food legislation - and therefore do not need to be labelled as GM.
Although this applies to Unilever’s ISP, the FSA’s Advisory Committee on Novel Foods and Processes (ACNFP) said this was a special case, on the grounds of “the use of a synthetic gene sequence and the presence…of a significant proportion of cellular by-products from the fermentation process such as yeast proteins”.
Thus, it recommends that consumers should be provided with information indicating that the ingredient is made using a GM yeast - either through information provided on food packaging or “via other easily accessible routes”….
Read full blog post and the article published in FoodNavigator.com at Terry Etherton’s blog.
