A2 Milk: Truly Better Or A Marketing Gimmick?

The concern regarding A2 milk came up while having an informal chat with Subho Biswas, who happens to be the GM of VITS Bhubaneswar. He had quite an interesting observation regarding A2 milk, which is now clogging the milk supply chain in the city. For long I have been toying with the idea of writing a brief on this scam, which is now rampant in the city. Hope the brief will open the eyes of customers to the reality of “A2 milk”, especially the Odisha government’s food safety custodians. It is high time for them not to have the Ostrich approach.

A2 milk scam — the New Zealand link

There has been growing interest in A2 milk globally ever since the New Zealand-based A2 Milk Company was founded in 2000 to license intellectual property for determining the type of protein a cow produces in its milk. The company changed its business model in 2007 from licensing to a full-fledged operating company engaged in sourcing and selling branded A2 milk in New Zealand, Australia, the UK and other developed countries; capturing up to 8 per cent share in some of these markets. In 2003, A2 Milk Company petitioned Food Standards Australia New Zealand to print health warnings on the packages of A1 milk. Not only was this rejected, but A2 Milk Company was also asked to even withdraw claims on A2 milk. In 2009, the European Food Safety Authority declared that no cause and effect relationship could be established between BCM-7 released by dietary intake of A1 milk and various diseases. However, A2 milk continued to sell at a premium price in markets in India and across the world.

A1 milk fear factor

Milk contains two major groups of proteins — caseins and whey proteins. A2 milk contains the A2 type of beta-casein protein whereas A1 milk contains A1 type of beta casein. A1 protein is a natural mutation of A2, which occurred over 1,000 years ago, and on its digestion, A1 protein produces beta-casomorphin-7 (BCM-7). There have been reports implicating A1 protein / BCM-7 in negative health effects like Ischaemic heart disease, Type 1 diabetes, autism, inflammatory response and digestive discomfort etc., but the scientific community believes the evidence is insufficient and inconclusive. The overall evidence for gastrointestinal effects from A1 and BCM-7 in animal and in vitro studies is conclusive, but the evidence from human studies is still limited. Despite the lack of conclusive scientific evidence from human studies, several players have started marketing A2 milk with claims that it is natural, better and free from negative effects.

Genotype project — the study in India

Studies by the National Bureau of Animal Genetic Resources (NBAGR), Karnal, covering 22 desi breeds have established that the predominant genotype in India’s native cattle is A2A2, confirming that our indigenous cows and buffaloes produce A2 milk.

The frequency of A2 allele (An allele is one of two or more versions of a gene. An individual inherits two alleles for each gene, one from each parent. If the two alleles are the same, the individual is homozygous for that gene. If the alleles are different, the individual is heterozygous) was 100 per cent in the five high-yielding milk breeds — Red Sindhi, Gir, Rathi, Shahiwal and Tharparkar, meaning that these breeds do not have A1 allele or A1A1/A1A2 genotype. In the remaining breeds, the availability of A2 allele was 94 per cent.

NBAGR also reported moderate to high frequency of A2 allele among the breeding bulls, further supporting the belief that milk being sold in India is safe for human consumption. Comparatively, in the exotic breeds like Jersey and Holstein Friesian, the availability of A2 allele is very low. Considering the widespread use of exotic types in Indian cross-breeding programmes and the fact that these exotic breeds are source for A1 allele, there is need for caution in future breeding activities to ensure that A1 allele does not get fixed in Indian cattle breeds.

NBAGR is currently implementing a project entitled “Delineating Beta Casein Variants in Indian Cows and Potential Health Implications of A1A2 Milk”. The bureau is also offering a service for genotyping of A1/A2 allele from milk or blood samples in cattle species at nominal cost. Private companies in India have also ventured into this by offering allele detection kits.

A2 milk in the market

In the recent past, several dairy units (local units and some organised players) in the state especially in the city have started offering A2 milk at a premium to consumers. Considering the lack of conclusive scientific evidence for A1/BCM-7 ill-effects on human health, and predominance of A2 milk in Indian cattle, there is no need for consumers to switch to milk branded as A2. Moreover, symptoms of digestive discomfort are also associated with lactose intolerance, wherein an individual is not able to digest lactose due to a deficiency in the lactase enzyme. Lactose intolerance, which is associated with milk sugar lactose, is different from allergy to a milk protein, though some of the symptoms may be same. Lactose is present in both A1 milk and A2 milk and consumers should be aware that shifting to A2 milk would not help them address lactose intolerance.

Prevalence of A1 milk protein is not a major problem in India at present, and with increased consumer awareness on A1/A2 milk over time, the A2 branded milk in the city may not sustain itself in future. The recent emergence of several A2 milk players in city is an indication of consumers’ willingness to pay a premium for perceived better quality and safer milk.

Instead of pitching A2 milk, the dairy players could cater to this premium segment by offering better value proposition such as high protein milk, lactose free milk, adulterant or antibiotic free milk, certified organic etc.

Boosting desi breeds

What Amul managing director Rupinder Singh Sodhi opines about A2 milk:

Sodhi dismissed worries that Indian milk comprises the less healthy A1 protein. According to him “A2 milk marketing gimmick came from New Zealand as the market was saturated there so they brought this term to bring exclusivity to their product. Be assured that in India what you are drinking is A2 milk as all buffalo and indigenous cow milk is 100 per cent A2 milk,” Sodhi said this in a virtual conversation with The Print Editor-in-Chief Shekhar Gupta. He then added, “All HF (Holstein-Friesian) crossbred cows produce 50 per cent A2 milk and 50 per cent A1 milk. So 90 per cent of milk in India is A2 milk,” he said, adding that the premium on A2 milk is just “marketing genius” without additional “health or nutritious benefit”. Lastly, he opined, “A1 and A2 are two types of beta-casein, a sub-group of casein that is the largest protein found in milk. All cows originally produced only A2 protein. However, over time due to genetic mutation, many cows started producing both A1 and A2 proteins, with some producing A1 only.”

Closing it Sodhi added, “The increase in A2 milk production in India has been led by a rise in buffalo milk as all the indigenous buffalo — and even cow breeds — produce 100 per cent A2 milk, unlike the pure or exotic foreign breed cows, like popular HF and Jersey. Crossbred cows, which have a high yield and ushered a white revolution in India, produce A1-A2 milk.”

A1/A2 milk

Large number of dairy products are available in the market having labels like A2 /organic/natural milk and milk products. The consumer does not have any clarity over the same. Even the sellers never try to conduct a deep research before labelling their products with such endorsements. FSSAI website has given a clear verdict on such popular labelling captions like A2, organic, etc. Marketers are publicising the benefits of A1 over A2 on social media as well as on product’s label without any scientific evidence. Such acts by the marketers are actually a case of mislabelling and food frauds. Standards of milk as specified in Food Safety and Standards (Food Product Standards and Food Additives) Regulations, 2011 do not mention or recognise any differentiation of milk on the basis of A1 and A2 types. Although the issue regarding adverse/beneficial effects of A1 and A2 types of milk have been discussed in various meetings of Scientific Panel on Milk and Milk Products. The panel did not come to any conclusion on this issue due to lack of clinical data and risk assessment done at scale so far. A1 and A2 are types of milk protein.

Organic food regulation

Organic foods are classified under Section 22 of the Food Safety Standards Act 2006. Food Safety and Standards (Organic Foods) regulations 2017 regulate these foods, notified under the provision of the Act. This regulation recognises two systems of certification for organic foods. The first one is Participatory Guarantee System (PGS-India). The Ministry of Agriculture implements the PGS-India scheme. The second one is National Program for Organic Production (NPOP), which is implemented by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. All organic foods must be certified by any one of the systems.

Exemption from organic certification

Small original producers or producer organisations can sell these products directly to consumers without any certification. Small producer or producer organisations are the one whose annual turnover is less than Rs 12 lakh.

Smart marketers have used this exemption as an opportunity by creating a farmers’ market for gullible customers in the city. They bring farm produce from different sources and sell them at a hefty premium as A2/ organic produce in dairy food categories. Strict rules must be there to safeguard consumers against premium charging practices of FBO in the name of A2/organic.

For the road

The state government should take steps to conserve native breeds of every region and private players can also play an important collaborative role in these efforts. Private dairies could also work on improving the productivity of desi breeds (which have low productivity) by better breeding, better farm and feed management and better animal health. There is huge potential for enterprising dairy units to take advantage of indigenous cow / buffalo milk and cater to the growing demand of A2 milk and A2 milk based value-added products in the market.

Given its predominance in Indian cattle there is no need for consumers to switch to A2 milk.