“Medical milk” could harm NZ exports

13/06/05 AgResearch's plans to develop "medical milk" through modifications to New Zealand's Dairy herds could damage exports and could even increase the risk of disease in people.

The proposals announced to the media suggest 'medical milk' could be on sale within a few years but ignores serious questions about the approach being taken to create new proteins and antibodies in cow's milk destined for human consumption.

The most obvious risk to New Zealand is the rejection of Genetically Modified foods by international markets, and that the proposed modifications to cows will meet with similar public objection.

There are important questions that are not being considered about the wisdom of medicalising every-day foods like milk. The drive for profit is blinding the developers to the medical and market realities that could make the project a dud.

The risk to public health of changing everyday foods by giving them pharmaceutical- like properties is enormous. Just as exposure to antibiotics in animal feed has knock-on effects in the food chain so could active ingredients shift the balance in bacterial populations and even increase the factors causing disease.

Failure of speculative biotechnology projects overseas should be a warning to those pushing the experiments here. New Zealand will be better served if research is focussed on sustainable processes and production that 'works with the grain of nature' and shows respects for the complex systems of diet and environmental factors underlying disease.