Ice cream giant ‘Wall's’ has been given the go-ahead to use GM technology to make low-fat ice cream. Not good news for those consumers and supermarkets that recently rejected the whole concept of GM products. (Fondly known as Frankenstein Foods) Good news however for fans of the ‘Magnum’ and the ‘Cornetto’ as the company will use an artificial version of a protein found in a deep-sea fish to create healthier versions of both popular ice-creams. So far only a few GM products are available for retail in the UK and it will be interesting to see just how far the backlash from concerned consumers will travel. The GM culprit in this particular case is a protein which is a synthetic version of a protein found in the blood of the ocean pout fish. A clever little protein indeed in its natural state as it allows the fish to survive in extremely cold water just above the sea bed, working as a type of anti-freeze.
By growing the protein on yeast in large vats, Unilever (the parent company of Walls) has found a way to synthesise the protein so that when it is added to the ice cream it lowers the temperature at which ice crystals form. In case you’re wondering “So what?” this means that ice cream of a suitably thick consistency can be created without using as much fat in the process. And we LOVE that...dont we? Well actually NO! Not according to food campaigners who argue that Unilever’s decision to use the GM technology goes against the consumer demand for more natural products. There is however one condition to the go ahead with all of this. Unilever has had to agree to making sure the labels of the new low fat ice-creams state that they have been made by using GM technology. Don’t get too excited though if you are anticipating a guilt free ice-cream binge. The rest of the EU states are still to approve the use of the fake fish protein, so the products will not be launched for at least another 12 months.
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