The Israeli food-tech company Wilk (formerly Biomilk) is showing positive results in recent studies, in collaboration with Rabin Medical Center and Ichilov Hospital, on the production of cultured breast milk. Studies have examined the ability of culturally grown human breast cells to produce milk fat.
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The company, which works to produce cultured breast milk, both by producing cells from milk donations and by producing cells directly from breast tissue, predicts that if a cell culture with increased fat production capacity is established, it is possible to produce the fat and other components present in breast milk. Missing infant formulas, and attaching them to the same formulas. Adding the said fat to the infant formulas will result in an improvement in the quality of the formulas available in the market.
The company further anticipates that as research progresses, they may pose a significant breakthrough in cultured breast milk fat production, and as the studies are successfully completed, the company may produce cultured breast milk, which will contain the ingredients almost exclusively in breast milk.
Production of breast milk using the technology developed by the company may enable the production of commercial quantities of milk fat components, which are naturally present in the milk in very small quantities. The company estimates that breast milk as a result of its development will be used as a raw material in the milk substitute industry, baby and toddler food products, and even in other industries such as the cosmetics and pharma industries.
About six months ago, the company signed an agreement with Terra Dairy, owned by the Central Beverage Company (Coca-Cola Israel), which will invest up to $ 2 million in the company, in favor of developing innovative milk-based products through Terra Dairy, which are not from living or plant sources, while preserving the environment. . This move is intended to allow Terra Dairy to join the two largest dairies on the market: Tnuva and Strauss, which have already invested in Wilk’s competitors, which are working to develop cultured milk.
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Wilk CEO Tomer Eisen and VP of Technology Prof. Nurit Argov Argaman
(Photo: Uriel Cohen)
Prof. Nurit Argov Argaman, one of the company’s founders and vice president of technology (CTO) at Wilk, noted that “as these studies progress, we anticipate that they may be a significant breakthrough in the field of cultured breast milk production. There are many advantages to this technological development, such as the production method used by the company, which enables the production of milk fat free from pesticide residues, toxins and antibiotics, which can be found in the milk of farm animals. “Production of commercial quantities of milk fat components, which are naturally present in milk in very small quantities, and of course the future possibility of incorporating breast milk in baby milk substitutes as well as a consumer product, due to its diverse effect on infant health and development.”
Tomer Eisen, CEO of Wilk, added: “The possibility that it will be possible to produce the fat that exists in breast milk, but is lacking in infant formulas, and add it to the same formulas, will significantly improve the quality of the formulas on the market. Currently, existing infant formulas provide the fat component primarily from plant sources, and its effect and effectiveness are not the same as breast milk fat.
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