GENETICALLY ENGINEERED FISH PROTEIN IN ICE CREAM: A GOOD IDEA?
David B. Fankhauser
28 August 2006
A few ice cream manufacturers are adding a genetically engineered “antifreeze” protein originating in an
arctic fish to their ice cream. The “antifreeze” is a product of recombinant DNA technology in which
DNA containing a gene from the fish, the Ocean Pout (Zoarces americanus) has been inserted into yeast.
The yeast then generates this protein, called “ice structuring protein” which Unilever Corporation harvests
and has been marketing to ice cream manufacturers. The antifreeze protein, when added to low fat ice
cream, makes the crystals in the ice cream smaller, and therefore smoother.. (Ice cream manufacturers
like to use the word “creamier...”) Breyer’s is apparently adding it to their Light Double Churned ice
cream.
Is this a good idea? Might there be side effects? Might there be problems having a fish
antifreeze in our ice cream? The short answer is “We do not know for sure.” There are
theoretical dangers which we recognize, and for which we attempt to test. However, with a highly
technological enterprise such as genetic modification of foods which introduce novel ingredients into our
diet, there can be a serious problem of unintended consequences. There are many examples in our past.
How many times have we been offered artificial sweeteners only to find that they pose a danger to some
people? Most recently aspartame, an artificial sweetener is dangerous to one segment of the population.
We were told that margarine, because it does not have cholesterol in it, was safer than butter. It has been
half a century later that we begin to understand that margarine contains trans fatty acids, and is
significantly more dangerous to your health than butter.
Tryptophan, a food supplement sold in health food stores, was manufactured in a genetically modified
organism. Unfortunately, a contaminant in minuscule quantities caused irreversible brain damage in
some people who consumed this tryptophan.
These unintended consequences make it prudent to go slow on introducing completely novel foods and
genetically modified foods. Even if a given set of lab tests do not reveal dangers, it does not mean that
the food is safe for all members of the population. It is crucial to be able to accurately monitor the
consumption of the modified foods to detect unanticipated ill effects on consumers. This requires a
transparency at every step, especially with the labeling of the food as containing genetically modified
additives so as to ensure an informed consumer.
Unfortunately, manufacturers of genetically modified foods have steadfastly resisted the labeling of such
foods which contain these novel foreign materials. (They state that people would not buy such a
product... This is an amazing admission that they prefer a cloak of secrecy about additives to processed
foods.) Lack of labeling makes it difficult at best to connect ill effects to the consumption of the modified
foods.
We consumers are beginning to be suspicious of artificial foods. For some reason we have more faith in
real foods. Maybe it is that we have evolved over hundreds of thousands of years so that our bodies can
handle ingredients in natural foods for the most part. Food corporations are hard at work to make empty
artificial foods taste like real foods. “Creamy” used to mean there was cream in ice cream. Now
“creamy” is liable to mean that the “ice cream” has fish antifreeze protein in it...
This key issue is this. People should be able to make their personal choice about whether they want to eat
foods with genetically modified additives or not. Yes–for many genetically modified foods, we do not
yet have clear evidence that they are hazardous. But if the addition of genetically engineered additives is
cloaked in secrecy, keeping consumers in the dark, how will we learn that a given unexpected malady is
related to the additive? Caution requires that we have transparency in the additives to our food, and
manufactures be truthful about what they add. “There is no evidence that these additives are dangerous”
is a brand of “truthiness” which implies that they are safe when that has not been established.