Non-GMO Project Stands with Straus Family Creamery, Other Dairy Farmers, as Synbio Milk Accelerates

The synbio dairy industry is rapidly expanding with a significant infusion of investment. According to the biotech industry’s Good Food Institute, nearly $2 billion has been invested in developing “precision fermented” products like synbio dairy in the past year alone.

April 1, 2023 | Source: Non-GMO Project | by

Bellingham, Wash.May 25, 2022 – During June Dairy Month, the Non-GMO Project joins American dairy farmers in calling out synthetic dairy, which is quietly appearing in grocery store coolers throughout North America.

In recent years, “animal-free” dairy proteins have found their way into everything from ice cream to cream cheese to snack bars, but many shoppers, food manufacturers and retailers are unaware that these are actually unlabeled and unregulated GMOs.

“Synbio dairy products are GMOs because they are created by genetically engineering a microbe like yeast to excrete milk proteins,” said Megan Westgate, founder and executive director of the Non-GMO Project, North America’s most relied-upon non-GMO authority. “That’s the definition of unnatural.”

The synbio process forces cells to produce novel proteins that mimic natural ingredients like casein and whey. The possible risks include:

• Significant biohazardous waste.
• The accidental release of new GMOs into the environment.
• Continued reliance on fossil fuels for GMO growth media and the incineration of waste.
• Synbio dairy could also put traditional dairy farmers and farmworkers out of business.

The synbio dairy industry is rapidly expanding with a significant infusion of investment.