In the summer of 2006, Unilever announced they would be using a protein from the North Atlantic pout to reduce the fat and calories in some leading brands of ice-cream (1). It was not economic to extract the protein directly from the fish but modern technology allows the gene to be transferred to yeast which can be used to generate the protein cheaply enough to be used in food.

Gene technology was deployed to transfer the relevant gene from the fish into yeast, which then produces the protein. The purified protein to be used in ice-cream would not have to be labelled as GM because no yeast would remain in the product and the tortuous EU regulations distinguish between products “made from”, say, a GM plant but not “made with”, using a genetically-modified yeast or bacterium.

Thus, oil from GM-soya has to be labelled as coming from a GM plant even though no trace of such an origin can be found because neither DNA nor protein dissolve in oil which has been extracted and purified from GM (or any other) soybeans. But vitamins, amino acids and other food substances, extracted and purified from GM (or any other) microorganisms do not have to be labelled.

The protein Unilever proposed using was in the second category of “made with” which did not prevent ritual jerking of the knees by the usual suspects (1, 2). They commented that if one wanted low-fat ice-cream one could eat sorbet. That’s true and if one doesn’t want to read what the campaigners say one can turn the page or choose a different newspaper.

We now learn that Unilever is to go ahead after receiving provisional approval from the UK's Food Standards Agency’s Advisory Committee on Novel Foods and Processes (3); this will go on for discussion in the relevant EU bodies which have ultimate jurisdiction. Why it has taken so long to get this far is not clear. The transgenic protein has already been authorised in Australia, New Zealand, Chile, Indonesia, Mexico, the Unites States and the Philippines.

Sources:

1. Valerie Elliott (26.6.2006). Low-fat GM ice-cream will make us all as slim as eels. The Times (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-2243430.html)

2. Geoffrey Lean and Jonathan Owen (9.7.2006). The GM 99; Genetically modified ice cream could be coming to Britain. Independent on Sunday (http://www.indsp.org/Unilever-GM-IceCream.php)

3. Neil Merrett (31.7.2007). Unilever protein gets UK go ahead. Dairy Reporter (http://www.dairyreporter.com/news/ng.asp?n=78650-unilever-fsa-ice-structuring-proteins)

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