Can Milk Be Made in a Lab, and Is It Healthy?

Lab milk is made with microflora like fungi in a fermentation process that produces milk proteins. Lab milk might be healthier than many plant-based milk alternatives.

The idea of drinking milk produced by another mammal is not new. Scientists propose that ancient humans began drinking milk as adults without being able to properly digest it. However, over time, most evolved the genes to be able to properly digest it throughout our lives. What about people who don't want to — or can't — use animal products for food, though?

Those who prefer a plant-based diet have arrived at a compromise of plant “milks” including soy milk, rice milk, and even potato milk that often aim to copy the nutritional profile and mouthfeel of animal milk. Additionally, as strange as it may sound, lab milk is now a real product.

What are the ethics of drinking lab-grown dairy or animal-free milk that doesn’t come from grains or beans? Is it healthy for humans to drink lab milk? Learn more about lab milk’s fermentation process, its benefits and drawbacks, and what this might mean for the future of lab-developed food.

Lab milk is exactly what it sounds like: It's milk produced in a lab by humans and without the aid of any animals. It’s seemingly real milk but made in a lab. The leading producers of lab milk use microflora like fungi in a fermentation process that produces milk proteins.

If you’re skeptical of the idea of lab-grown milk protein, it might help to consider that the fermentation process used here has been employed for thousands of years to create yogurt, soy products like soy sauce and miso soup, and sauerkraut. Now, scientists are harnessing microflora’s ability to produce protein to “teach” these small creatures to make dairy that looks, feels, and tastes just like cow’s milk. 

Lab milk is made in a process called precision fermentation. Learn more about how this differs from regular fermentation and learn why it could be a crucial next step for food producers.

The process

Ordinarily, food producers use microorganisms to transform food and drinks like yogurt, beer, or sauerkraut into different but still recognizable versions of themselves. Precision fermentation uses similar microorganisms — which naturally produce enzymes like cellulase — to make specific protein products. In the case of man-made milk products, the fungi that produce cellulase are then prompted to make the dairy protein.

The need for man-made proteins

Researchers, as well as global leaders, are interested in alternative meat, dairy, and egg products that can be grown or produced in labs. Food-insecure people live all over the world, and dairy farming is not readily available to many. Some parts of the world deal with consistent food shortages. Having healthy milk on hand that’s structurally identical to real milk could save countless lives and help children get nutrition during formative years of rapid physical and mental growth. In short, man-made proteins could be a game-changer for millions of people on the planet.

Unfortunately, the materials and buildings needed to produce lab milk are quite expensive. After the hefty startup costs of labs that produce lab milk and other proteins are taken care of, though, this framework could begin to pay off. Then, the availability of artificial dairy products and other proteins would help when a food shortage crisis occurs.

Because lab milk is structurally identical to cow’s milk — meaning that all of the macronutrients and the nutritional composition are the same — you could certainly benefit from drinking lab milk. Most nutritionists and physicians agree that dairy is a great source of protein, calcium, and vitamin D.

Even if you love milk, you might have concerns about the ethics of drinking cow’s milk (or any animal milk), the procedures used on some dairy farms, and the dairy industry as a whole. However, you might also dislike the taste of plant-based milk or find that it doesn’t work in your recipes. Lab milk could offer a good middle ground between eschewing animal products altogether and settling for products you don’t like. It also offers the following benefits:

• It’s produced without harming or even bothering any animals.
• It tastes like real milk.
• It won’t have traces of antibiotics or hormones, as the milk is produced in a lab.
• It might be healthier than many plant-based milk alternatives. Rice milk, for example, has a high carbohydrate count and is probably not suitable for people who struggle to maintain stable blood sugar.
• It’s becoming more of an accepted concept as numerous companies are added to the alternative protein landscape. In 2021, nine out of 15 new fermentation companies focused their efforts on precision fermentation, and five of these intend to create synthetic dairy-like lab milk.

Fermentation isn’t a new idea, but the foods that have been traditionally created through this method are either plant-based (like soy sauce) or similar versions of the original product (like yogurt made from cow’s milk). Creating synthetic animal products by way of microflora fermentation isn’t just a novelty concept. In 2021, $1.69 billion was raised by “alternative protein” fermentation companies due to the interest people have in developing lab-made meat, milk, and eggs. 

The drawbacks regarding lab milk mostly involve things that remain unknown:

• Because fermenting lab milk is such a new concept, we have no data about how these products affect people over their lifespans or those who have specific medical conditions.
• It might be more expensive than regular milk.
• At this point, you might not be able to find it in your local store.
• It’s generally identical to cow’s milk — so if you’re allergic to dairy proteins, you won’t be able to drink it or eat products made from it.

This is a complicated question for people who adhere to the vegan diet and those who wish to consume fewer animal products. Technically, lab milk is vegan because it does not come from an animal and it does not use animal resources or products to produce it. However, though there aren’t animal cells or byproducts in lab milk, it is structurally identical to cow’s milk. 

If you’re a particularly strict vegan, drinking lab milk (or eating lab ice cream) might be a gray area. Should you avoid products that mimic animal products, or is lab milk simply the new soy milk? Ultimately, it’s up to you whether you choose to partake in these products or not — but you can rest assured that lab milk truly does not come from cows.