The Food Issue
2015
grainswest.com
9
PREMIUMMILKGARNERS
MIXEDREVIEWS
COCA-COLALOOKS TOFAIRLIFE TO
DIVERSIFY ITSDRINKOFFERINGS
IN FEBRUARY, COCA-COLA’S
Fairlife milk hit store shelves across the
United States. The company has been di-
versifying its drink o erings in an attempt
to boost revenues, which have been dealt
a serious blow by declining soft-drink
consumption.
Fairlife milk is produced through a pro-
cess that separates milk into its water, vita-
min and mineral, lactose, protein and fat
components. These are then recombined
in di erent ratios to create a lactose-free
milk product with 50 per cent more
protein, 30 per cent more calcium and half
the sugar of regular milk. There is one
major downside: it retails for about twice
as much as its conventional counterpart.
Since the release, reviews of the drink
have been mixed, and it remains to be
seen whether premium milk sales will be
enough to improve Coca-Cola’s fortunes.
Over at popular online news outlet
BuzzFeed, several sta ers took it upon
themselves to taste-test Fairlife milk. Their
results were not encouraging, as reported
by BuzzFeed’s Rachel Sanders in a post
titled “We Tried Coca-Cola’s New ‘Premi-
um’ Milk So You Don’t Have to”: “Fairlife
is a little bit creepy to drink. The texture is
much more viscous and thick than regular
milk, and the odour is really strong, to the
point that it smells almost spoiled.”
However, Sanders did acknowledge
that, despite its shortcomings, Fairlife
milk might appeal to certain people. “Fair-
life doesn’t taste quite like normal milk,
but it doesn’t NOT taste like milk, either,”
she wrote. “So, if the nutrition or lack of
lactose is a selling point for you, it might
be worth a try.”
Fairlife milk is not available in Canada,
but it can be purchased at several U.S.
retailers, including Target, Walmart and
Kroger.
IN APRIL, THE EUROPEAN
Commission authorized the importation
of 10 new genetically modified organisms
(GMOs) for food and animal feed into
the European Union. The Commission
also renewed the authorizations of seven
other GMOs.
“All the GMOs approved today have
been proved to be safe before their placing
on the EU market,” the Commission said,
in a release. “Any products produced from
these GMOs will be subject to the EU’s
labelling and traceability rules.”
The approved products include GM
corn, soybean, cotton and rapeseed
varieties, 11 of which were produced by
Monsanto. With these new additions,
there are now 68 GMOs approved for food
and feed uses in the European Union. The
new authorizations are valid for 10 years.
The decision prompted a fierce back-
lash from environmentalist groups and
anti-GMO advocates in the European Par-
liament. One of the main criticisms of the
move is that many people in EU member
states are against GMOs.
“Giving the go-ahead to these GMOs
is an a ront to democracy,” said Bart
Staes, food safety spokesperson for the
Greens in the European Parliament, in a
release. “A majority of EU member states
voted against the authorization of almost
all of these GMOs in Council and there
is a clear and consistent majority of EU
citizens saying no to GMOs.”
The Commission also introduced a
proposal to allow individual EU member
states to ban imported GM crops within
their borders, even if the crops have been
approved for use in the European Union as
a whole.
Currently, the only GM crop grown
in Europe is Monsanto’s corn variety
MON810, in Spain and Portugal.
EUROPEAN
UNIONAPPROVES
NEWGMO
IMPORTS
Coca-Cola has added Fairlife to its lineup of non-carbonated beverages, which also includes Fuze, SmartWater and
MinuteMaid products. Photo: Flickr user Robbie
