Milk production without cows: the biggest plant in the world opens in Denmark

Subject: Milk production without cows: the biggest plant in the world opens in Denmark

The start-up Remilk, having raised USD 120 million in investment capital, will now open the biggest plant in the world for production of milk obtained from precision fermentation on a 70 000 m site in Kalundborg in Denmark.

The fermentation process uses yeasts to produce milk proteins (casein and whey) without recourse to animals, with, according to the company, organoleptic results that are indistinguishable from the proteins in cow’s milk.

The company’s CEO, Aviv Wolff1, says, ‘We’re making dairy products that are identical to cow-milk products, with the same taste, texture, stretchiness, meltiness, (...). We intend to massively scale up our production capabilities to make nutritious, delicious, and affordable dairy that will send cows into early retirement.’

Initially, the company aims to cater for cheese and dairy producers and processing industries but wants in the future to supply end consumers with lines of ‘animal-free’ products.

In view of the above:

1. Does the Commission know about this methodology for producing milk and dairy products?

2. What is its assessment of these products and how will it protect the EU’s livestock farmers and traditional milk producers?

3. Does it know whether Remilk has received any funding from the EU and if so, how much?

1 https://www.timesofisrael.com/israels-remilk-to-open-worlds-largest-facility-for-cow-free-milk-in-denmark/

Answer given by Mr Wojciechowski on behalf of the European Commission (27 June 2022)

The Commission is aware of the development of technologies such as precision fermentation to produce animal-derived products.

The Commission does not object to the development of new technologies to produce food, as long as they comply with EU rules. This concerns notably food safety and marketing rules.

The products quoted by the Honourable Member could not be marketed in the EU as milk or milk products since, according to Regulation 1308/2013 (2), ‘milk’ means exclusively the normal mammary secretion obtained from one or more milkings without either addition thereto or extraction therefrom.

There are no records (3) of the company quoted by the Honourable Member having received agricultural support in 2021 or 2022.

⋅1∙ https://www.timesofisrael.com/israels-remilk-to-open-worlds-largest-facility-for-cow-free-milk-in-denmark/

⋅2∙ The definition and more detailed rules for the use of the term « milk » can be found in Annex VII of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 of the European Parliament and of

the Council of 17 December 2013 establishing a common organisation of the markets in agricultural products and repealing Council Regulations (EEC) No 922/72, (EEC) No 234/79, (EC) No 1037/2001 and (EC) No 1234/2007.

⋅3∙ https://lbst.dk/tilskud-selvbetjening/soeg-i-registre/modtagere-af-eu-stoette/iframes/modtagere-af-landbrugsstoette-2020-og-2021/