I'm going to take a break from talking about audio synthesis to talk about food synthesis, specifically as relates to ice cream.
After trying it out, my conclusion: it's good. It tasted like ice cream. In fact, it tasted more like ice cream than anything I've ever eaten that was not traditional ice cream. I did not detect any weird flavors, and the taste was awfully similar to Tillamook Mudslide ice cream. The texture was a bit hard, but not inedibly so (obviously, since I did, in fact, eat it). I would eat it again.
A couple of years ago, I first heard about a company called Perfect Day, who figured out how to make biosynthetic dairy proteins. I was intrigued. They had figured out how to use a process called precision fermentation to create the casein and whey found in dairy, which could be used to make dairy products without the cow. And, as an added bonus, they can make these products without lactose - so people who can't digest lactose can potentially get the real dairy product without the thing that makes them sick.
This week, I finally had the opportunity to try it out, when my wife picked up a pint of ice cream from a company called Brave Robot, which uses the Perfect Day biosynthetic proteins in their product. She decided to go with the "a lot of chocolate" flavor, since she figured chocolate would be the most forgiving and mask any weird tastes.
After trying it out, my conclusion: it's good. It tasted like ice cream. In fact, it tasted more like ice cream than anything I've ever eaten that was not traditional ice cream. I did not detect any weird flavors, and the taste was awfully similar to Tillamook Mudslide ice cream. The texture was a bit hard, but not inedibly so (obviously, since I did, in fact, eat it). I would eat it again.
Since I have some concern about the impact of animal agriculture on our environment, these products are a welcome addition to our supermarket shelves. Unfortunately, they're also kind of expensive right now. Only time will tell if they become a more widely available product, and if the price can be reduced. Both of these are likely, but not inevitable.
There are some big question marks - will consumers broadly find biosynthetic dairy to be acceptable? After all, people get scared by the idea of genetically modified food, even though I have yet to see any evidence that they have a negative impact on human health.
And let's say these products do become broadly accepted by consumers - what happens to the economies of areas that rely on dairy farming? Will there be upheaval and backlash?
These are the things I think about when I see a new technology like this come around. In the meantime, though, I'll just enjoy my ice cream.
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