By Chris Melore, Us Assistant Science Editor
A Frankenstein-like milk that comes from lab-grown ‘mammalian cell cultures’ is just months away from being sold in US grocery stores, but it’s already facing fierce resistance.
Dubbed UnReal Milk, the new beverage is not produced by real animals, but comes from large lab tanks called bioreactors that use special animal cells which produce the same proteins, fats, and carbs found in regular cow’s milk.
The makers of the milk alternative, Brown Foods, plan to start selling UnReal Milk in US stores in 2026, with public taste tests happening now.
The company revealed it has a green light to sell their milk because it is using ‘generally recognized as safe’ (GRAS) ingredients and self-affirming its own safety data.
It’s a common path many new food companies use instead of waiting years for full FDA approval.
Co-founder of Brown Foods Sohail Gupta even told Forbes: ‘Though we are starting with cow milk, using our technology we can produce milk of any mammalian species, including human milk.’
The announcement of a cow’s milk that doesn’t actually come from cows has been met with skepticism by many on social media, including some calling on lawmakers to outlaw the product before it even goes on sale.
‘Ban that c*** now,’ one person on X wrote.
‘I want nothing to do with this “Lab grown garbage” I don’t trust these biotech mad men and women!’ another person declared.
Brown Foods and scientists testing UnReal Milk at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) said the product is better for the planet than cow’s milk because it cuts greenhouse gases, uses less water to produce, and needs less land than traditional dairy farming.
Advocates of the lab-grown drink also claimed it was more reliable, not being affected by droughts, illnesses within cows, or major price swings because of supply issues, adding it could help feed people in places where real cows can’t live.
However, critics, especially dairy farmers and some nutrition experts, have argued that there are still no long-term studies proving lab-grown whole milk is as healthy as drinking cow’s milk, especially for growing children.
Board-certified family physician Dr Kat Lindley took to X after it was announced that UnReal Milk would go on sale next year and simply replied: ‘NO!’
‘Good grief, they’re willing to process all our food under the guise of climate change. Disgusting,’ one commentor replied.
Other critics claimed that UnReal Milk was the latest lab-grown product being pushed on consumers with the financial backing of billionaire and climate change advocate Bill Gates.
Gates has previously backed foods and drinks created to allegedly decarbonize the food and agriculture sector through his company Breakthrough Energy Ventures (BEV).
However, Daily Mail has not been able to confirm that Gates has backed the creation of UnReal Milk. We have reached out to Brown Foods for comment.
To this point, most milk alternative products have been plant-based drinks, using proteins from almond, oat, soy, coconut, pea, and rice.
However, some new lab-grown products use precision fermentation, making milk by putting cow milk protein genes into tiny yeast or bacteria microbes and then growing them in big tanks, just like beer is brewed.
In 2023, the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) pushed the FDA to ban precision-fermented dairy products such as Perfect Day or Bored Cow from labeling their drinks as ‘milk.’
They argued the drinks were synthetic blends that confuse shoppers and don’t meet the official definition of cow’s milk as natural secretions from healthy cows.
UnReal Milk sidestepped that battle with the FDA by not using precision fermentation at all.
Instead, Brown Foods grew actual milk-producing cells from a cow in lab tanks, letting those cells make the full, natural composition of whole milk without mixing in extra ingredients like oils or sugars.
This approach positions UnReal Milk as more ‘authentic’ under the FDA’s standards for identifying products, potentially allowing it to be labeled and sold as real milk in 2026.
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