COWS, MILK AND SAFETY ISSUES IN INDIA-DOES ANY ONE CARE?

Cow is supposed to be a sacred animal to most people in India due to its association with mythological events. For most vegetarians milk from these animals provides high quality proteins and micro nutrients for their sustenance. Though the animal is supposed to produce milk for feeding its calves during its productive period of life by Nature, man's ingenuity and innovative ability over the years have seen the milk production by animals like cows and buffaloes increase rapidly much beyond the needs of its calves. While technological means of increasing milk productivity is understandable, what is reprehensible is the cruelty perpetuated on these dump creatures by dairy farms across the country for cutting the cost and increasing milk yield as much as possible. In a recent report such practices have been detailed by the animal protection NGO PETA. Here is a take on some of the dastardly acts by dairy farms which are in vogue in India! 

"Since 2000, People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has repeatedly reported about thousands of illegal dairies across the country where animals are impregnated repeatedly and forced to produce enormous amounts of milk every day. Chained by the neck in narrow stalls, unable to move, and often lame as a result, the cows suffer from chronic debilitating diseases due to lack of movement and poor and unhygienic diet. Most are unlawfully injected with hormone oxytocin to make them give more milk. Oxytocin keeps their bodies in perpetual condition of labour, with repeated uterine contractions, destroying their reproductive systems and making them bone thin and eventually sterile. The man-animal interface has largely been taken over by machines: Most cows in India are milked by low-cost milking machines. They may have reduced drudgery for dairy workers but are painful for animals. The suction machines tend to take more milk out of the cows than what they would yield naturally. And they are often kept on even when udders have become dry, causing acute pain. Bigger urban dairies tend to be foul-smelling infernos, where the animals stand in feet-deep slush and dung, suffer from skin disease, other infections and TB. Death is a daily affair. But even in death they are useful: the carcasses are sold for beef and leather. The small dairy owners in cities and big towns send their animals out on the street to fend for themselves. They forage for food in garbage bins or vegetable markets. And what do they eat? Doctors at a Tamil Nadu vet school report that cows are brought in with gastroenterological problems as a result of swallowing large amounts of plastic waste. Doctors have witnessed cases where cows had swallowed more than 25 kg of plastic. On an average, every month, 10 per cent of cows brought in are found to have plastic deposits inside their bodies."

What is tragic is that, in spite of many agitations and campaigns from time to time to protect cows and respect them as man's friend, at the ground level nothing is happening to improve their lots. To stop killing is not certainly the answer but letting them live without pain or torture. It is time Government of India makes it punishable to maltreat animals like cows and those committing such crimes are made to undergo compulsory prison terms. A few Goshalas here and there in the country does not solve the problem and an organized effort is necessary to address the problem on a national level. 

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

BUTTER VIA NON-ANIMAL PLANT ROUTE-NEW DEVELOPMENTS

Butter derived from animal milk is a standard feature of food in many cultures and especially in the US consumers cannot imagine a diet without butter used practically in every preparation. The process of butter making involves extraction of milk and removing the cream by centrifugation to be converted into butter sticks and slabs. Concern about the cholesterol content in butter, consumers welcomed alternative options like margarine prepared from vegetable oils and the latter has been slowly gnawing at the butter market during the last 3-4 decades. The technology for making margarine is now so sophisticated that it is very difficult for a lay consumer to distinguish between natural butter and high quality margarine in terms of appearance, flavor, texture, taste and functionality. But cheap vegetable oils like Palm oil which are used by the margarine industry as a raw material, are increasingly coming under attack from the consumers because of its cascading effect on denudation of rain forests in countries like Malaysia and Indonesia and consequent global warming. Against this background path breaking biotechnological processes are providing a viable alternative to vegetable oils via Algae. Algal oil can be processed to get a variety of products with different sensory characteristics and functional features and butter is no exception. The rapid rise of biotech companies capable of producing Algal oil on commercial scale from sugars using the fermentation route is an amazing feat with dramatic impact in the coming years. Here is a take on this "Cow to plant to Algae" story! 

"Consider for a moment that the average California cow produces just enough cream per year to produce 838 pounds of butter, or 3,352 sticks of butter per year. This is based on the assumption that it takes 11 quarts of milk to make 1 pound of butter and that the average cow produces 2,305 gallons of milk per year. On the other hand, there is 1/2 cup of vegetable oil in 1 stick of margarine and each cup of vegetable oil conservatively equates to 8 ounces. According to Solazyme's Form S-1, there are approximately 290 gallons in a metric ton [MT] of Solazyme's oil. This suggests that 1 MT of oil is capable of generating roughly 9,280 sticks of margarine. Therefore, we see that the 100,000 MT facility now under construction for the joint venture between Solazyme and Bunge (BG) could roughly support the production of 928,000,000 sticks of margarine in a given year. Assuming sticks of butter are equal replacements to sticks of margarine, we see that this one facility could theoretically displace over 275,000 cows and their related costs. That's quite impressive when one considers that there are roughly 60,000 dairy farms in the United States with the typical dairy herd averaging 135 cows per farm according to Purdue University. While this example may be a bit of a peculiar comparison, the point illustrates the efficiencies of utilizing Solazyme's technology in relation to the current food system". 

Mankind will be ever obliged to the biotechnology companies for investing billions of dollars on basic research to evolve strains of Algae with high fat accumulating traits and developing the large scale fermentors or bioreactors which can be set up vertically needing very little land unlike the conventional agriculture or pasture land based live stocks. Though sugar is the basic substrate from which fat is produced by the Algal cells, the versatility of the technology is such that any low grade sugars derived from non-edible cellulosic materials also can be gainfully utilized. What is not clear is whether the new potent Algal strains have been developed using genetic engineering and if so one can expect severe and adverse reaction from many consumers who are apprehensive about the safety of GMO foods in general. If Algal oil technology really takes off the whole agricultural landscape all over the world may change with potential for reduction of green house gases from the live stock animals and restoration of rain forests that protect the environment.   

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com