Respond to prefers-color-scheme dark in app web views

Follow section front redirects in Spectrum

Enable NLP source in PCS for load testing

Switch off the News Alerts Survey Widget when we have enough responses

Poll to determine if new LUF updates are available

Allows the winning A/B test variant to be turned on without Spectrum deployment

Show infinite scrolling sections in Assembler MultiView

Show option for NLP article summaries in Action Bar

Show NLP summaries collection recirc on article pages

A general feature flag for Recipe Features that aren't yet released

Feature flag for media team features that aren't yet released

Use new Orca video player for preroll plugin in Spectrum

Show the snow tracker (instead of the heat tracker) on Spectrum

See more coverage in your recommendations

Recipes

One recipe a day, Monday through Thursday

The Eat Voraciously newsletter

Reporting on Earth’s changing climate and the search for solutions

Climate & environment

The Climate Coach newsletter

Climate alerts

BERKELEY, Calif. — The first course was a celery root soup lush with whole milk. The last was a spice cake topped with maple cream cheese frosting, served with a side of ice cream. And then a latte with its fat cap of glossy foam. In all, a delicious lunch. Maybe a little heavy on the dairy.

Only this dairy was different. It was not the product of a cow or soybean or nut. The main ingredient of this milk was made by microbes in a lab, turned into tasty and recognizable food, and then served to a hungry reporter.

Lab-grown meat is coming. But lab-grown dairy has already arrived.

Dozens of companies have sprouted up in recent months to develop milk proteins made by yeasts or fungi, including Perfect Day, the California-based dairy company that laid out this unusual spread. The companies’ products are already on store shelves in the form of yogurt, cheese and ice cream, often labeled “animal-free.” The burgeoning industry, which calls itself “precision fermentation,” has its own trade organization, and big-name food manufacturers such as Nestlé, Starbucks and General Mills have already signed on as customers.

Carolyn Fong

The rapid advancement in this area has sparked hope for a revolution in the dairy industry, and not just because it’s kinder to the cows. Precision dairy doesn’t have cholesterol, lactose, growth hormones or antibiotics (though those with dairy allergies should beware). And cattle, for beef or dairy, is said to be <a href="https://interactive.carbonbrief.org/what-is-the-climate-impact-of-eating-meat-and-dairy/" target="_blank">the No. 1</a> agricultural source of greenhouse gases worldwide. Consumers concerned about climate change or animal welfare have been anticipating the U.S. launch of cultivated meat, which is grown in labs from animal cells, but cultivated dairy could have just as much of an impact on the environment — with fewer regulatory hurdles to clear.

Despite widespread acceptance of soy, oat and almond milk, U.S. consumers, even vegan ones, continue to be underwhelmed by plant-based cheese options: Mostly made of starch and oil, they often lack the flavor or texture (no gooey strings, not enough bounce) of real cheese. And cheese is especially bothersome for the environment, more so than its liquid counterpart: Making one pound of cheese requires 10 pounds (or about five quarts) of cow’s milk. The World Economic Forum and many scientific reports suggest cheese generates the third-highest emissions in agriculture after beef and lamb.

Biden’s climate change plan may not nix cheeseburgers, but science says beef should be on the chopping block

For Ryan Pandya, chief executive of Perfect Day, those are the problems he’s solving. But it really started as a bagel problem.

Studying chemistry and bioengineering at Tufts, he’d gone vegetarian but still had a craving and taste for animal products.

“I had a bagel with vegan cream cheese that was so bad that it led me to investigate. What’s so hard about this? A lot of dairy alternatives are not made of food,” he said with a wince.

He hit upon a process called precision fermentation, similar to what has been used for decades to brew beer, make insulin for diabetic patients or produce rennet for cheese.

“Rather than using 22nd-century technology to produce meat, we’re using 20th-century technology to produce milk protein,” he said.

There are bubbling stainless steel fermentation tanks, software that maintains temperatures, agitator motors and oxygenators. And after the microbes eat their sugar solution and are programmed to make the desired proteins, there’s a lengthy process to separate the milk protein from the medium, then to wash it and dry it in a spray dryer so the powder can be used to make food.

Vermont’s dairy farms recede, giving way to shrimp, saffron and new ideas

Beyond the fermentation process, making usable milk proteins is similar to that at regular cow dairies, which have stainless steel tanks, spray dryers and freeze dryers, pasteurizers and vacuum pumps, chillers and steamers. “We get to the same powder, but these are the cows,” said Irina Gerry, chief marketing officer at Change Foods in Palo Alto, Calif., pointing to the fermenters in their San Jose lab.

The world’s demand for dairy keeps going up. But it’s not necessarily liquid milk. As countries develop and have burgeoning middle classes, the demand for liquid milk drops and enthusiasm for cheese and other products skyrockets. The cheese category has grown 19 percent since 2017, according to Mintel’s Future of Cheese 2022 report, with plant-based versions making up a minuscule part of that market.

General Mills, which produces household brands like Betty Crocker, Pillsbury, Annie’s, Nature Valley and Häagen-Dazs, launched a series of Bold Cultr cream cheeses, first using precision-dairy milk proteins from Perfect Day, then from Israeli foodtech start-up Remilk. (Last month, General Mills said it was “deprioritizing funding” for these cream cheeses, so its future is uncertain.) Perfect Day’s ingredients are being used in Brave Robot ice cream in the United States, Modern Kitchen cream cheese in the United States, California Performance Co. protein powder in the United States, Singapore and Hong Kong; and Coolhaus ice cream products in the United States and Singapore.

Perfect Day, the first to market in the United States, is also partnering with Mars, Nestlé, Starbucks, Graeter’s and other companies to provide milk protein for products. Its office is a gleaming, multistory facility in an industrial part of Berkeley, Calif. that has become a locus for food and biotech start-ups. It has fermentation and separations teams, analytics and regulatory experts, legal and logistics teams, as well as two full-time chefs to prototype products and dishes in a sleek exhibition kitchen. In addition to its Berkeley facility, the company operates a 90,000-square-foot production facility in Bangalore, India and a 58,000-square-foot factory in Salt Lake City.

Change Foods, founded in 2020, is headquartered in both Australia and the United States, and is in the process of building a commercial manufacturing plant in Abu Dhabi that will produce the volume of animal-free milk protein casein equivalent to the output of 10,000 dairy cows. Like Perfect Day, it aims to be an ingredient company that supplies its milk protein to other established food companies, but it will launch its own branded cheese products in 2025.

Precision fermentation dairy’s growth has to happen fast to be price-competitive with traditional animal dairy and to gain widespread adoption, said Ravi Jhala, Perfect Day’s global head of commercial.<b> </b>Recent declines in plant-based meat sales are a cautionary tale.

Part of the reason analysts see a bright future for precision dairy is the desire by mainstream food companies to reduce their carbon footprint. Many have trumpeted their sustainability goals, often making promises like having net-zero carbon emissions by 2030, or 2040, or beyond. To get there, they are turning to companies like Perfect Day, which is collaborating with Mars to develop a more eco-friendly chocolate bar.

But will customers buy it? It is delicious? Most of the 28 precision dairy companies gearing up globally are selling their milk proteins as ingredients to other food companies, so the finished products are only as good as the food companies making them. One company’s plain cream cheese may be creamy and indistinguishable from a cow-based one, but another company might decide to solve too many problems simultaneously: Animal-free, sugar-free, fat-free, all-natural and low-calorie. That could be a recipe for a sad schmear or pint, something that could turn shoppers off to the whole category.

Consumers are loyal to brands, not ingredients, experts say. And brands get to decide what their messaging is to consumers. That General Mills <a href="https://www.generalmills.com/news/stories/bold-cultr-introduces-an-animal-free-cream-cheese-alternative" target=_blank>cream cheese</a>? It’s marketed as a “lactose-free, non-animal cream cheese alternative.” Mars describes its <a href="https://co2coa.com/" target=_blank>new chocolate</a> as a silky smooth chocolate (not an “alternative” to chocolate) that uses “real dairy protein …. without any inputs from animals.” Brave Robot <a href="https://braverobot.co/" target=_blank>ice cream</a> leans heavier on the sustainability and cruelty-free aspects. So even the messaging around precision dairy could be confusing.

“Nestlé and Mars, they have the reach and the customers. They could position these new products as extensions of existing product lines, but the jury is still out on what the labels will say,” said Tony Moses, who is in product innovation for CRB, a consulting and manufacturing company for the food and beverage industries.

Mud-slinging between alt-meat and traditional ag is getting kind of dirty

Traditional cow dairy has pushed back against plant-based milks using words like “milk” or “cheese” in a series of largely unsuccessful lawsuits. At the end of February, the FDA announced that oat, soy and almond drinks can keep the word “milk” in their names, but squabbles around precise language will likely recur when more of these precision dairy products reach the market.

The International Dairy Foods Association opposes any explicit or implicit use of the term “dairy” for precision products without qualification in their marketing and merchandising, said spokesman Matt Herrick.

“Our position is that FDA must develop a uniform, mandated disclosure approach to this technology to ensure labeling is truthful and not misleading for consumers,” he said.

Development of these products comes at a time when there’s huge interest in finding alternative protein sources to feed a skyrocketing global population more sustainably. Still, for an industry in its infancy, the way forward could have significant roadblocks.

The dairy industry, with its clout and hefty lobbying budget, may not agree there is room for everyone: In 2022, U.S. cow dairy had ceded 16 percent of all retail milk sales to plant-based milk, according to data from SPINS and the Plant Based Foods Association.

Plant-based milk companies also may not welcome the competition, especially if cultivated dairy products are positioned as more sustainable and less resource-intensive. (A glass of almond milk takes <a href="https://www.pastemagazine.com/food/almond-milk/why-almond-milk-is-so-controversial/" target=_blank>23 gallons</a> of water to produce, according to the nonprofit Water Footprint Network.)

The industry is also likely to run up against Americans’ increasing discomfort with processed food.<b> </b>The cow dairy industry and plant-based companies could team up to paint these newcomers as Franken-foods made by mad scientists in a lab.

And the regulatory path ahead is not assured for this fledgling industry. As a comparison, CBD-infused food and drink products <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2019/06/24/cbd-infused-food-beverages-are-still-illegal-under-us-law-so-why-are-they-everywhere/" target=_blank>burst onto the scene</a> a few years ago as more states decriminalized marijuana and hemp. But after deliberation, in January, the FDA refused to regulate it and asked Congress to step in. For now, it’s still illegal, and CBD food companies are in limbo.

CBD not shown to be safe enough for use in food or supplements, FDA says

For many of these venture capital-funded start-ups, any of these hiccups could mean the difference between success and failure.

Stakes are high: TurtleTree in Sacramento and Biomilq in Durham, N.C., are both focused on using this technology to produce human breast milk or its components. Last year’s <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2022/09/06/cronobacter-sakazakii-bacteria-baby-formula/" target=_blank>infant formula crisis</a> made it clear that finding enough nutritionally appropriate alternatives to breast milk is a national food security imperative.

In a way, lab-grown cultivated meat may have cast its looming shadow over this new dairy technology, leaving it shrouded in mystery.

“This is an industry that jumped to the market way faster than I thought it would, and part of that is the regulatory hurdles,” Moses said. “Great things are happening in the lab, but it’s that getting to market, that commercialization piece, that is less certain. I’m watching what Perfect Day is doing. How did this get here without us knowing?”

Pulitzer finalist, criticism, 2017

James Beard finalist, 2017, 2019 and 2023

Paul Hansell Award for Distinguished Achievement in Florida Journalism, 2017

James Batten Award for Public Service finalist, 2017

Association of Food Journalists awards, 2013, 2014, 2017

National Headliner, 2014, 2015 

Florida Society of News Editors, 2013, 2015, 2017

Les Dames D'Escoffier, second prize, 2017

Society for Features Journalism, second prize features series or project, 2017

Moon Tampa & St. Petersburg (Moon Handbooks)

Moon Florida Gulf Coast (Moon Handbooks)

Moon Walt Disney World and Orlando: Including Daytona Beach and The Space Coast (Moon Handbooks)

Moon Spotlight Sarasota, Naples & the Paradise Coast

University of Virginia, bachelor's of English

California Culinary Academy, associate's degree

Laura Reiley is the business of food reporter. She was previously a food critic at the Tampa Bay Times, San Francisco Chronicle and Baltimore Sun. She has authored four books, has cooked professionally and is a graduate of the California Culinary Academy. She is a three-time James Beard finalist and in 2017 was a Pulitzer finalist.

Laura Reiley

Milk, cheese and ice cream without the cow has entered the marketplace

the-washington-post

LABMILK

Photographer

For The Washington Post

Cowless dairy is here, with the potential to shake up the future of milk

(Washington Post illustration; Carolyn Fong for The Washington Post)

The Washington Post

name

washpost

iptc-media/economy_business_and_finance/economic_sector/chemicals

iptc-media/lifestyle_and_leisure/lifestyle/food_and_drink

iptc-media/lifestyle_and_leisure/lifestyle

iptc-media/economy_business_and_finance/business_information

iptc-media/economy_business_and_finance/economic_sector/consumer_goods

iptc-media/economy_business_and_finance/economic_sector/consumer_goods/food

iptc-media/economy_business_and_finance/economic_sector/consumer_goods/beverage

iptc-media/science_and_technology/technology_and_engineering

iptc-media/economy_business_and_finance/economy/macro_economics

iptc-media/economy_business_and_finance/economy/macro_economics/consumers

iptc-media/economy_business_and_finance/economic_sector/agriculture

iptc-media/lifestyle_and_leisure

iptc-media/human_interest/animal

iptc-media/economy_business_and_finance/economic_sector/agriculture/livestock_farming

iptc-media/economy_business_and_finance/economy

iptc-media/health

iptc-media/economy_business_and_finance/economic_sector/process_industry

iptc-media/economy_business_and_finance/economic_sector/process_industry/food_industry

iptc-media/economy_business_and_finance

iptc-media/human_interest

iptc-media/science_and_technology

advertising/Davos Conference_legacyaux_YDA

advertising/Ransomware

client-blocklists/Client List: Becton Dickinson KWs - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/CLIENT LIST: Nomura KWs 2021 - EXCLUDES ALL

advertising/Siemens Continuum Keywords Pt 2. 

client-blocklists/Tito's KW List - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/Client List: Johnson & Johnson KWs - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/P+ The Offer KW List - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/Bed Bath & Beyond KWs - INCLUDE ANY

client-blocklists/Client List: USAA KWs - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/Client List: T. Rowe Price KWs - EXCLUDES ALL

advertising/Siemens pt 3

client-blocklists/Client List: Discover Card KWs – EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/T. Rowe Price KWs - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/Client List: Microsoft KWs 2 - INCLUDES ANY

advertising/B2_Agriculture/Food Production_legacyaux_PI3

advertising/Workday Persona: CFO

advertising/B2_Asian Content_legacyaux_8xg

advertising/B2_Asian Lifestyle Content_legacyaux_im0

advertising/Workday Persona: CIO

advertising/B2_BioPharmaceuticals_legacyaux_p81

client-blocklists/HBO KWs - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/Ford/Lincoln KWs - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/Google PG KWs - EXCLUDES ALL

advertising/Workday Persona: CHRO

advertising/Amazon Custom 2.7.22 (BDM + EDM Content)

client-blocklists/Kyndryl KW List - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/Client List: Navy Federal Credit Union NFCU KWs 2 - EXCLUDES ALL - 12.23.20

client-blocklists/Louis Vuitton KW List - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/United Airlines KW List - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/Client List: Diageo - Johnnie Walker KWs - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/ Client List: Mercedes EQS KWs - INCLUDES ANY

advertising/ESG

client-blocklists/Boeing KWs 2021 - EXCLUDE ALL 

client-blocklists/FlexForm KW List - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/Client List: Apple Marcom KWs - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/Client List: Morgan Stanley KWs - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/Client List: Organon KWs - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/Client List: Verizon KWs - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/Client List: Facebook KWs - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/WaPo: Combined Disaster Keyword List - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/CLIENT LIST: GOLDMAN SACHS SEC KWs - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/Hulu KW List - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/Client List: Mastercard KWs - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/Client List: Beto for Texas KWs - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/LV Queen 2022 Neg KW List - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/Client List: AT&T KWs 2022 - INCLUDES ANY - NEW

client-blocklists/Synchrony Financial KWs - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/WaPo: Natural Disaster Keyword List - INCLUDES ANY

advertising/Content About Climate

client-blocklists/Client List: PMI KWs - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/Client List: Ukraine-Russia (Apple News) KWs - EXCLUDES ALL

advertising/Content About Metaverse

client-blocklists/Client List: Hermes KWs - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/Client List: Showtime KWs - EXCLUDES ALL

advertising/Hybrid Work

client-blocklists/Client List: ExxonMobil KWs - INCLUDES ANY Q4 2022

client-blocklists/Client List: Apple TV+ KW – INCLUDES ANY

advertising/B2_Business_legacyaux_hws

client-blocklists/Client List: Ronald McDonald House KWs - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/Client Neg KW List: Omega KWs - INCLUDES ANY

advertising/Supply Chain

client-blocklists/P+ Halo KW List - EXCLUDES ALL

advertising/Cultivate Labs Q4 2022 Segment - Forecasting

client-blocklists/Safeway KW List Commanders Q4 2022 - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/PMI KWs 2021 - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/Marcus Goldman Sachs Neg KW List - INCLUDES ANY

advertising/B2_Consumer goods and services_legacyaux_wbz

client-blocklists/GEICO KWs - INCLUDES ANY_4.26.21

client-blocklists/Client List: Morgan Stanley KWs - INCLUDES ANY Q4 2022

client-blocklists/Client List: Navy Federal Credit Union NFCU KWs Q4 2022 - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/UVA KW List Q4 2022 - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/Client List: Eli Lily KWs - INCLUDES ANY

advertising/B2_Data Center Buyer_legacyaux_80A

client-blocklists/Client List: Citibank KWs - EXCLUDES ALL

advertising/B2_Digital Authentication_legacyaux_c2u

client-blocklists/Citibank KWs 2021 - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/SAP KW List - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/Amazon KWs 2022 - INCLUDES ANY

prism://prism.query/site-articles-only,/business&limit=20

Get a curated selection of 10 of our best stories in your inbox every weekend.

Business

The source for business news and analysis. Covering economic policy, business policy, financial news, economic issues, stock market data, local business, technology and more.

prism://prism.query/site-articles-only,/climate-environment&limit=20

Sign up for the Climate Coach newsletter and get advice for life on our changing planet, in your inbox every Tuesday.

Climate

Washington Post coverage of climate and environment-related issues.

prism://prism.query/tag,climate202&limit=3

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/the-202-newsletters/the-climate-202/

prism://prism.query/site-not-subtype,/lifestyle/food,recipe-template&limit=20

Get the Eat Voraciously newsletter for delicious dinner inspiration, delivered straight to your inbox.

Food

Your source for everything food and drink: recipes, restaurant reviews, dining guides, cooking for one, Tom Sietsma's column, and much more!

Moooove over: How single-celled yeasts are doing the work of 1,500-pound cows