Fernando Martins a partner in Bain & Co., who specializes in agriculture, food and sustainability says “The Holy Grail is the sugar taste. They are getting better; they are not there yet.”
Most sweeteners on the market whether they are artificial like aspartame, or natural, like stevia-leaf extract are “small molecules,” which essentially pass through the body after being digested by the liver and kidneys. Other people are looking into another source of sweetness: plant based proteins.
A company called Amai Proteins says they have created several “designer” proteins that are several thousand times as sweet as sugar, mostly free of aftertaste, sustainably and affordably grown in a lab, and healthy to digest. Seems like kind of a contradiction to me. Grown in a lab and healthy to digest. Hmmmm.
This company changes the sequence of amino acids in the proteins to fix problems related to yield, stability and taste. Then the company uses fermentation to grow the proteins in a lab, avoiding the cost and supply-chain headaches of growing crops. About 2 milligrams of the resulting white powder can replace a teaspoon of sugar, says biochemist Ilan Samish.
This seems like it is the future of everything, biochemical manipulation of our food sources to satisfy our unquenchable desire for sweetness. And, at the same time, eliminating the farming and actual growing of crops and food.
The answer is simple. If we just eliminate the processed sugar in our diet and allow our bodies to regain the natural balance of tastes in our natural foods, the chemical, lab grown concoctions will not be needed.
Not to mention the unforeseen and unintended consequences that come with them.
