Scientists Created Dairy-Free Ice Cream From GM Yeast

Is this the Beyond Burger of ice cream?

Secret Cow Level

Dairy-free products company Perfect Day Foods just created a creamy ice cream using genetically modified yeast that produces whey proteins — meaning no cows were involved with its production.

While the Bay Area-based startup claims its new invention is the "world's first animal-free ice cream" on its website, it's worth nothing that there are plenty of non-dairy and vegan ice cream alternatives out there like oat-, almond-, and chickpea-based milk products.

Creamier Than Ever

What sets this particular ice cream apart is the whey protein, bringing it far closer in terms of taste and texture to the real thing — but without the need to industrially farm animals. Fast Company writer Adele Peters could not tell it apart from the real thing in a taste test.

"Both of us happen to have a similar background of working in medicine, where therapeutics and medicines are made using basically fermentation already today," co-founder Ryan Pandya told Fast Company. "And so the two of us started scratching our heads and wondering, what if we just apply that same exact technology that’s been around for half a century to make the world’s most in-demand, highest-quality protein?"

READ MORE: I couldn’t tell this delicious lab-grown ice cream didn’t come from a cow [Fast Company]