Startup Develops Vegan ‘Dairy’ By ‘Identically’ Mimicking Cow’s Milk Components
Image via Shutterstock
Dairy and veganism might be paradoxes, but one Israeli startup believes it has milked the future of plant-based food products with a cruelty-free, animal-free “dairy” product that acts and tastes as it had come from a cow.
On its website, Tel Aviv-based food tech startup Imagindairy describes its invention as a base for “tasty, healthy and nutritious dairy products that are environmentally friendly and care for animal welfare at affordable prices.” The vegan milk is developed in a lab from “dairy protein-based” components via a special fermentation process.
Through an artificial intelligence-assisted technique called “precision fermentation,” Imagindairy replicates milk proteins “identical” to the whey and casein proteins in a “cow’s mammary cells,” CEO Eyal Afergan told FoodNavigator. Fermentation takes three to five days, and comes from technology comprising 15 years of research.
Afergan said the protein can be “easily harvested” in high volumes, enough to mimic the amount found in dairy milk. It is then purified and dehydrated into a powder. At the end of it, you get “animal-free dairy” that matches cow’s milk in sensory experiences while being suited for the making of alternatives for dairy products like cheese.
Above all, the startup’s alternative apparently possesses the same nutritional value and composition of cow-based milk, yet remains free of lactose, cholesterol, and GMOs.
The company’s proprietary technology allows it to match qualities of cow’s milk that plant-based proteins in alternatives like soy, oat, and almond milks haven’t been able to replicate, as they do not share the biophysical features or nutritional value of whey and casein.
Cow’s milk proteins have the distinct ability to develop curds, which give dairy products their unique creaminess and texture. Adding even a single dairy-based protein to a plant-based product can significantly alter its taste and texture.
Afergan is a proud graduate of the Technion Institute of Technology in Israel, earning him a commendation by Technion UK CEO Alan Aziz. As quoted by The Jerusalem Post, Aziz responded, “Up until now, the vegan sector has focused on trying to find the closest alternatives to everyday dairy products. But it turns out that the best substitutes for milk and cheese are just milk and cheese – minus the cows.”
Imagindairy aims to bring the milk alternative to the masses in a couple of years, pitting it against plant-based meat company Impossible, which is also developing an animal-free product similar to cow’s milk.
[via FoodNavigator and The Jerusalem Post, cover image via Shutterstock]
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