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Faux milk products made of plants are everywhere and gaining in popularity. But now, a type of milk is about to hit the store shelves in the US, and it is heads and tails above the rest.
This unique cow-free product is made from whey proteins that are engineered to be the same proteins found in real milk, according to Atlas. This is the first product from betterland foods, a new food tech startup and Perfect Day, a company founded in 2014 by two vegans who wanted to transform animal-free dairy products.
“We only wanted to launch milk when we knew we could deliver a no-compromise option for consumers, and we’re delighted to be doing just that with betterland foods,” Ryan Pandya, co-founder of Perfect Day said in a company press release.
“This is an incredible moment when we can finally deliver a product [that] consumers have been asking us for since day one, and give the world another way to enjoy the milk we’ve loved for literally thousands of years – now with much less impact on the planet.”
Whey Protein
This innovative whey protein – the key element in milk production in cows – was engineered by Perfect Day by fermenting a type of fungus in a bioreactor. This type of precise fermentation is also being used in other food manufacturing including making rennet for cheese production and in the production of plant-based burgers.
Replicating the protein, according to Fast Company makes the new faux milk perform differently than using soy milk or other plant-based alternatives. That’s because it’s the protein that makes milk have the properties people are used to, like using it in coffee, cereals, cooking and baking. With the whey protein, this faux milk is designed to act like conventional milk in coffee, lattes, and more.
“When you pour it into your coffee, you can drink a whole cup of coffee and you still have the peak [foam] at the bottom,” Lizanne Falsetto, founder and CEO of betterland foods told Fast Company.
Cow-free milk
It took two-years of research and development to perfect the recipe for the new cow-free milk. There are two versions, a whole milk and a creamier one that was developed for baking.
The milks are made from sunflower oil, coconut oil, and other ingredients. Containing a hefty 8 grams of protein, half the fat of real milk, and a third of the sugar, it is an ideal product for vegans. While the products are lactose-free, the milk is not safe for people with dairy allergies because of the real dairy proteins.
Still, the taste is not the same as real milk from cows. “Transparently, our goal for the performance of betterland milk is to be virtually indistinguishable from cow’s milk in terms of frothing, foaming, cooking, whipping, baking, or steaming,” says Falsetto. “In terms of flavor, however, our goal is for betterland milk to be preferred over traditional cow’s milk.”
The products will hit store shelves in the summer of 2022. While betterland is not the only company working on a new milk alternative, dairy company Danone is working on one too. This is a big step in making milk without the environmental and ethical concerns of dairy farming.
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