The company was set-up by scientist Dr Corran McLachlan and the late Howard Paterson, then NZ’s largest dairy farmer, after the discovery cows naturally produce different types of milk proteins. The A1 variant dominates NZ herds.
Although it doesn’t sell much of its milk that only has A2 protein in NZ, A2 Milk has grabbed just under 10% of the fresh milk market in Australia, has fledgling sales in the United States and United Kingdom, and has had soaring sales of infant formula in Australia and China.
To date, A2 Milk says more than 100 independent published studies support its marketing spiel that its products are potentially beneficial for people who suffer intolerance to the naturally occurring A1 protein in milk.
Although it funds a number of trials, the company says they all undergo an independent peer review process before publication.
However, critics say there is still a lack of independent, credible scientific evidence. Even A2 Milk admits more research is needed to establish a cause-effect relationship, particularly on which groups or individuals are sensitive to the BCM-7 fragment produced from A1 but not A2 milk.
The company won’t disclose specifics on its research and development spend, which it is significantly increasing this financial year.
Its first-half results showed just over $1 million was spent on patents, trademarks and R&D compared to just $207,000 a year ago and the $384,000 spent in the full 2015 financial year.
The company successfully settled legal action for an undisclosed amount in November against the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, alleging the public broadcaster made misleading and deceptive statements in advertising its consumer affairs programme, The Checkout, which called the company’s scientific claims “bogus”.
What A2 Milk can legally and scientifically say is that the A2 beta-casein was originally in cattle when first domesticated and the A1 beta-casein protein arose from a later genetic mutation in European cattle.
It has also been proven that the A1 and A2 beta-caseins differ in structure and, subsequently, in the way they are digested. Beta-casein comprises about 30% of the protein in cow’s milk or about 2.5g per glass.
A2 Milk has also set-up a separate website, www.betacasein.org, which it claims is a source for health professionals and scientists rather than the general public, to provide information about the A1 and A2 beta-casein protein variants.
On that site, the company says: “As a matter of individual choice, people may wish to reduce or remove A1 beta-casein from their diet, (or their children’s diet) as a precautionary measure.
“This may be particularly relevant for individuals who have or are at risk of the diseases mentioned (type 1 diabetes, coronary heart disease, autism and schizophrenia)”, though A2 Milk adds the rider “there is substantial uncertainty about the benefits of such an approach”.
So what has the research found to date and what is under way?
A substantial amount has been published on A1 and A2 proteins in milk since the late 1990s, some supporting A2 Milk’s theories and others not.
The National Institute of Health (US) PudMed database has indexed 36 articles that have A1 and A2 beta casein as a key search word and 93 articles on BCM-7.
A 2004 report by public health specialist Boyd Swinburn for the NZ Food Safety Authority (NZFSA) found “very suggestive evidence” linking A1 milk to type 1 diabetes and ischaemic heart disease.
He recommended the Government fund human clinical trial evidence, which was lacking but that’s only just happened.
Keith Woodford’s 2007 book, Devil in the Milk, stirred things up three years later by examining the link between the A1 protein and a range of serious illnesses.
It led to a 2008 review of the NZFSA’s risk management procedures that concluded it lacked transparency over its handling of the Swinburn report.
However, the watchdog shelved plans to have a relook at the science after a European Food Safety scientific review in 2009 found there was insufficient evidence to prove that bioactive peptides in A1 milk had a negative health effect and, therefore, a formal risk assessment wasn’t needed.
Subsequent studies include the first human digestion clinical trial testing the A1 and A2 milk proteins conducted by Curtin University and funded by A2 Milk.
The 2014 eight-week study of 41 people concluded the A1 beta-casein led to a “looser” stool consistency.
The potential for A2 milk to benefit children predisposed to neurological or behavioural conditions was also supported by another A2 Milk-funded study in 2014 by North Eastern University in Boston.
A2 Milk recently completed a human clinical trial in China involving 45 people. The results have been submitted for publication and the company says it lends further support on the digestive benefits of milk free of the A1 protein.
A second clinical trial is now under way on 600 people, including adults, pre-schoolers and infants, in China.
Professor Peter Gibson, of Australia’s Monash University, began a human clinical trial in December examining A1 and A2 beta casein proteins on irritable bowel syndrome.
A2 Milk is also in the final stages of implementing human clinical trials into the benefits of the A2 protein to digestive function with a leading US biomedical research centre, and in the UK.
A2 says it can’t say when its funded trials will be completed because of differing contractural agreements with research partners.
The Government has finally come to the party, investing $1m over three years into a high-value nutrition study in partnership with AgResearch and the University of Auckland.
A2 will fund “around a further 30%” over the course of the human clinical trials that are investigating whether the A2 protein avoids intestinal inflammation and suits people intolerant of standard milk.
