Whey Protein (2)

Triathlon Forum
1

http://www.wheyconsortium.org/Pages/Home.aspx

Whey is a waste product. So cheap it is used as animal feed. But low and behold these people are funding research.
A United Effort

The Whey Protein Research Consortium is an international partnership of dairy cooperatives, associations, processors and multinational companies working together to grow the market for whey protein. Our mission is to create incremental global usage of whey proteins through the development and documentation of whey protein’s health and wellness benefits.

Research Driven

The goal of the integrated research efforts of the Consortium is to develop a generic, non-proprietary body of knowledge, establishing measurable health and wellness benefits of whey proteins that will create a scientific foundation for new marketing opportunities through the development of scientific support for health, qualified health, and/or structure function claims.

On-going clinical studies also aim to provide a scientific foundation for the superiority of whey proteins over competing non-dairy proteins in delivering consumer benefits.

He who pays piper!

2

I’m not sure why you are surprised by this. Lobbying and research to further your interests is common to most organizations. IMO, The waste product described should be sent to malnourished people, especially children, who lack sufficient protein to live healthy lives.

Full disclosure; I consume whey protein regularly.

3

They don’t deserve to be sent waste product. They should be provided with suitable resources, so they can develop, to live a healthy sustainable life.

4

Well, I guess we’ll agree to disagree, as I consume said waste product.

Further full disclosure; I am a personal trainer specializing in weight loss. As a weight management tool, I also encourage whey protein consumption regularly in order to positively change protein / fat / carb ratio.

5

Whey is a waste product.

As was oat bran. Until they found it had nutritional value and that there was a market for it.

6

Whey is a waste product.

As was oat bran. Until they found it had nutritional value and that there was a market for it.

Not sure how it formerly being a waste product is at all relevant, considering it has well documented nutritional value. Determining the utility of what was once believed to be waste is exactly what scientific research is about.

7

Science disagrees.

8

What an asinine statement. Do you even have a clue where whey comes from? Do you know anything about the very food you consume or that animals consume? Babies are some of the world’s largest consumers of whey protein, without which it would be impossible to mimic breast milk. Milk itself is very complex and when taken apart there are components that are world hundreds of dollars per pound as well as by-products that yes, do go into animal feed. Those same ingredients fed to pigs in China go into foods made by the biggest brands in the U.S.- comes down to cost.

Go learn a little bit about how food is made commercially these days- you’ll be surprised (both pleasantly and unpleasantly) where it comes from.

9

Yeah, technically it used to be a waste product.

New Zealand is a huge dairy producer. Whey is a byproduct of the dairy industry (I prefer byproduct rather than waste). Here in New Zealand, farmers used to be given it back from the dairy companies, to spread on their fields, to get rid of it. Then some clever dude looked at what it actually was, and found it’s great protein content.

Sawdust is a byproduct of the sawmilling industry. It collects in great piles (and in big enough piles is will begin to compost/decompose, and create so much heat it will spontaneously combust. Sawdust could be considered a waste prouduct. That is, until it is consciously composted and made into organic garden fertilizer. Or until some bright spark compresses it into bricks, puts it into a bag and sells it to us as firewood!

The whey protein industry has taken an unknown quantity (the waste product) and simply by telling us how good it is, it is now a highly desirable product for a lot of people, thanks to it’s properties. Just because whey protein isn’t the first choice of the manufacturing process, doesn’t mean it’s not valuable. It’s simply a win win situation.

As for giving it away? Firstly, if it has value to undernourished people, then it has a value for all people. If it has a value, then a price can be put on the product. Who in their right mind would give away something they can make money out of? Or, if it IS of no value, why should the company that makes it, pay for someone far away to have it for free? Surely they could just dump it for next to nothing and be done with it. At the very least, the undernourished people should have to pay to have it delivered to them.

Interestingly, in related note, back when I was growing up here in New Zealand, we did our bit to send aid to other countries. We had craploads of dairy and particularly milk powder. The government arranged for the milk powder to be mixed with stuff into a bar product, a bit like the nougat in candy bars. They then shipped literally boatloads of the stuff to starving countries, like India (back in the day) and they handed them out by the box ful. People thanked the NZ goverment and ate the flavoured bars (I remember trying them and loved them). Unfortunately, the vast majoirty of people in India are actually lactose intolerant! They all got sick from the free bars from well intentioned New Zealand. As soon as we found out we were making them sick, we stopped sending the bars.

Best we find out if the target audience ‘malnourished people’ can actually eat the stuff before we send them boatloads of body building powder :slight_smile:

10

Yeah, technically it used to be a waste product.

New Zealand is a huge dairy producer. Whey is a byproduct of the dairy industry (I prefer byproduct rather than waste). Here in New Zealand, farmers used to be given it back from the dairy companies, to spread on their fields, to get rid of it. Then some clever dude looked at what it actually was, and found it’s great protein content.

Interestingly, in related note, back when I was growing up here in New Zealand, we did our bit to send aid to other countries. We had craploads of dairy and particularly milk powder. The government arranged for the milk powder to be mixed with stuff into a bar product, a bit like the nougat in candy bars. They then shipped literally boatloads of the stuff to starving countries, like India (back in the day) and they handed them out by the box ful. People thanked the NZ goverment and ate the flavoured bars (I remember trying them and loved them).

Best we find out if the target audience ‘malnourished people’ can actually eat the stuff before we send them boatloads of body building powder :slight_smile:

Whey protein these days is virtually devoid of lactose, so this problem is gone. I eat bars at breakfast every day made of whey, almond butter, and heavy cream, so what is old is new! My whey is from those New Zealand cows, as well, so a premium product from organic grass-fed cows.

Finally, I love, love, love your signature line and refer to it regularly. When I use chocolate whey, at least I can say that I am batting 1out of 3 :wink:

11

Sally,

I didn’t say the bars they made back in the day were whey. And I didn’t say modern bars had lactose in them. I was just using the past example that good intentions, (ie, feed the malnourished people, whey protein) should be checked first.

I giggle about New Zealands clean green image. We are not nearly as clean and green as people think. Firstly, we have huge tracts of land covered in monoculture pine forests, all in perfectly planted rows. Birds arguably don’t live there. We have no native mammals, so the forests are dead of animal life. Much of the rest of the country is covered in grassland. The hilly bits have sheep on them. Back in the day, the native bush was burned down to make paddocks of grass for sheep. The price of lamb and wool has plummeted so people are changing to dairy. All the flat land is in dairy farms. Sure it’s green to look at but the methane the cows produce is a major issue. The shit and urine, in huge quantities runs off into the streams and rivers. You can no longer drink out of any of the rivers. There is now so much fecal matter and fertizer runoff in the water that the rivers and streams are being clogged by all the ‘rock snot’ (didymo). It’s embarrassing.

Surem NZ is green, thanks to the grass and pinetrees (and abunadant rainfall) but it sure ain’t “green” and clean? It’s only clean thanks to the wind the blows incessantly taking all the pollution from our (non-pollution controlled cars and factories) and takes it away and over the pacific ocean.

When I was living in Canada 18 years ago, the town I was in had a curbside compost system that collected foodwaste etc, from bins each week. We have none of that here.

We do produce very high quality milk products, including whey protein however. And don’t just think that because it’s from New Zealand, that it’s organic. Organic farming is growing, but is still a very small portion of the total farms here. And don’t even get me started on how much fuel/carbon it takes to get your whey proteing from NZ across the world to your table. How green is that?

Enjoy your protein bar tomorrow morning.

12

Finally, I love, love, love your signature line and refer to it regularly. When I use chocolate whey, at least I can say that I am batting 1out of 3 :wink:

hehehe

Glad I can be of amusement. This week I’m 1/3 also. The good news if that you are batting 1/3, in baseball at least, you are awesome!

My wedding anniversary is next week. I might have to skip chocolate that day :wink: