Israeli Cow-Free Dairy Products Approved In Canada 

Cow-free dairy products made by Israeli startup Remilk, which produces real milk proteins from yeast, have received a “letter of no objection” from Health Canada for the sale of products in the country. 

This follows similar approvals from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Singapore Food Agency and the Israeli health ministry in 2023. 

Remilk’s proprietary technology copies the gene responsible for producing milk protein and inserts it into yeast. The yeast is then instructed by the gene to create the milk protein, and it is placed in a bioreactor – a large specialist tank that mimics the environment the cells need to multiply rapidly.

The milk proteins can then be combined with vitamins, minerals, fat and sugar to make a variety of cow-free products such as milk, ice cream, yogurt and cream cheese. But unlike real dairy, it is free of lactose, cholesterol, hormones, and antibiotics.

According to Remilk, its products still maintain the taste of traditional milk and the production is more sustainable and eco-friendly, requiring less land, feedstock and water. 

“This is an important day for us at Remilk, and a historic one for Canada as it opens its doors to the new dairy revolution,” said Remilk’s Co-Founder and CEO Aviv Wolff. 

“We are now ready to partner with leading food companies in the country and offer consumers a whole new experience of guilt-free indulgence,” he said.

“Canada is the fourth separate health administration to conduct thorough examinations of our protein and each, individually, found it to be equivalent to its traditional counterpart,” said Co-Founder and CTO at Remilk Ori Cohavi.