Apparently in a move to make their candy bars GM free, Masterfoods, maker of chocolate bar brands Mars, Snickers and Maltesers said they will start using animal based rennet to make the whey in their chocolate products.
In Europe a distinction is made between foods that are made with genetically modified food products, and those that are made with the help of genetically modified organisms.
In the first case, GM food products, there is strict regulation in Europe. Most GM foods are banned, and those that are not banned must be clearly labeled if they contain more than 0.9% of any GM product. An important exception is for livestock, which is allowed to be fed GM products unless it is certified organic.
In the case of food made with the help of genetically modified organisms, there is no such regulation. There are no labeling requirements, and such food can even be certified organic. This technique involves modifying a microorganism like yeast or bacteria, which in turn manufactures the food product.
The most commonly known products that are made in this way are aspartame (the artificial sweetener used in sugar free soft drinks) and ‘vegetarian’ rennet used in making hard cheeses and whey (used in processed foods like the chocolate bars mentioned above). Recently they have been discussing if they would allow this technique to use fish genes to manufacture an ice cream additive in the UK. In addition this technique is used to manufacture a number of pharmaceutical products and food supplements like vitamins.
Well, so much for that. In not explaining the first move, they’ve now been forced to make a second move and take the rennet out.
Plant based rennet would make everyone happy
Have they started using animal based rennet to make the whey in their chocolate products or not? If yes, how can i know which one contains the animal rennet?
Hi SAMI,
According to the article Steph linked to above, they quickly changed their mind and went back to using vegetarian (also GM) rennet in all of their products. I don’t have any more information than that.
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