Antifreeze Protein - Recent News

Recent News

One recent, successful business endeavor has been the introduction of AFPs into ice cream and yogurt products. This ingredient, labelled ice-structuring protein, has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration. The proteins are isolated from fish and replicated, on a larger scale, in yeast.

There is concern from organizations opposed to genetically modified organisms (GMOs), arguing modified antifreeze proteins may cause inflammation. Intake of AFPs in diet is likely substantial in most northerly and temperate regions already. Given the known historic consumption of AFPs, it is safe to conclude their functional properties do not impart any toxicologic or allergenic effects in humans.

As well, the transgenic process of ISP production is widely used in society already. This is how mass amounts of insulin are made to treat people with type I diabetes each year. The process does not impact the product; it merely makes production more efficient and prevents the death of many fish who would, otherwise, be killed for the extraction of such protein.

Currently, Unilever incorporates AFPs into some of its American products, including some popsicles and a new line of Breyers Light Double Churned ice cream bars. In ice cream, AFPs allow the production of very creamy, dense, reduced fat ice cream with fewer additives. They control ice crystal growth brought on by thawing on the loading dock or kitchen table which drastically reduces texture quality.

In November 2009, the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences published the discovery of a molecule in an Alaskan beetle that behaves like AFPs, but is composed of saccharides and fatty acids.

A 2010 study demonstrated the stability of superheated water ice crystals in an AFP solution, showing while the proteins can inhibit freezing, they can also inhibit melting.