5. Commercialization of β-CN Polymorphism
Due to the health benefits of A2 β-casein containing milk, there is now an actual dairy cow herd existing in California, which can produce milk with only A2 β-casein. Production of this type of milk may take advantage in the market place to help people with health concerns to drink more of their recommended three glasses of milk per day [
57,
58]. Likewise, a creamery in Ohio is now distributing A2 milk in 2 L cartons in Farmers Markets of West Virginia and stores in the Washington D.C. area. Additionally, A2 milk is now on the store dairy shelves of the Kroger Store in Barboursville, West Virginia at about USD 4.20 per half gallon, which is twice the price of regular store milk. Active sales of A2 milk have also been reported from Charlotte, North Carolina. Most encouraging is trade magazine advertisement of Holstein bulls with the A2/A2 beta casein genetics such as for “Dun-Did Bush Wacker”-ET A2/A2 by Triple-Hil Sires, EX-90 3 yr/aAa: 354/62/Smithsburg, Maryland in the leading Pennsylvania dairy magazine
Farmshine in their 24 January 2020 issue [
59]. A feature article in the North American edition of the International Holstein Hub magazine discusses the A2 phenomenon in length [
60] and stated “While the health benefits of A2 milk may not be entirely certain, it is clear that a niche market has been created that commands a price premium. With a growing supply of A2A2 bulls to select from, breeding cows to fill that niche becomes an attractive proposition. Indeed, with the A2A2 bulls ranking as high as the Nr. 3 on the TPI charts, then breeding for A2 does not require a lot of compromise in other areas”. Thus, there maybe now the beginning of “taylor-made”, the A2 milk, coming to the rescue of consumers.
In order to test dairy cows and market milk containing only the A2 variant of β-casein, New Zealand established a company called the “A2 Corporation Ltd.” in 2000. A DNA test kit has been developed by this corporation, where the test kit can determine if the animal belongs to A1 or A2 or a combination of both, by analyzing a hair plucked from a cow’s tail [
14]. The selective distribution of bull semen is the easiest way to use the desirable β-casein A2 genotypes. The herds of dairy cattle producing milk with A2 variant only can be developed by this method. As a premium brand of cow milk, this specific A2 variant of β-casein milk has been commercially marketed in New Zealand and Australia since 2003, where this offers the consumers a natural choice of A2 milk. The same corporation has also launched marketing this healthy and therapeutically advantageous A2 milk in Asia and the United States [
14].
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