On the surface, Senomyx is a company that on first glance seems to be the answer to America's unhealthy fast-food diet. Their blog boasts good intent with plenty of charitable commitments, but is Senomyx too good to be true? As much as their blog boasts good deeds, the flavor enhancers they produce and how they produce them cannot possibly be the answer.
Senomyx is located in San Diego and the business started in 2008. The basics of how their company works is simple. Senomyx is paid to conduct research by top name brand foods, such as Pepsico, Kraft, Solae, and Nestle, to find ways to enhance food without the ill affects of salt, sugar, fat or MSG. They are also paid based upon royalties that are received by how many of their partnership companies sell products containing their artificially-engineered flavors. However, "Ajinomoto, Co., Inc. is currently introducing products that contain a Senomyx flavor ingredient in Asia, North America..." (Senomyx. Unknown. Senomyx: Company.)
Aborted Fetus Tissue Used in Research
Senomyx has five major areas to their paid research: "Savory Flavors Program, Sweet Taste Program, Salt Taste Program, Bitter Blocker Program, and Cooling Flavors Program" (Senomyx. Unknown. Senomyx: Collaborations.) The savory flavors, sweet taste and salt taste programs "focus on the discovery and development of savory, sweet and salt flavor ingredients that are intended to allow for the reduction of MSG, sugar and salt in food and beverage products."(Senomyx. Unknown. Senomyx: Company.) Unlike the first three programs, the bitter blocker and cooling flavors program are not intended for health purposes. The bitter blocker program inhibits the tongue from tasting any bitter tastes, thus it has the possibility to further enhance the tastes of food by eliminating all bitter taste. The cooling flavors program is rather self-explanatory, they produce a cooling effect.
Now, Senomyx may have the good intent to help fix the American diet by altering our foods, but the point of contention is brought up by how these flavors are achieved. Senomyx has mimicked the process in which the tongue is able to taste different flavors by arranging for numerous trays to be filled with tiny indentations. A protein is added in one of the tiny indentations followed by a flavor. If the protein reacts to the flavor, then that flavor will be used in further testing. What few understand and realize is that this protein is the tissue or cell line from an aborted fetus kidney (Lorren).
Profiting from Aborted Fetuses
As of April 29, 2011, Senomyx reported "increased revenue and improved net loss compared to prior year; ended Q1 2011 with $66 million cash balance..." (Senomyx. Unknown. Senomyx: News.)
Senomyx is growing and will increase in revenue as they discover new flavor enhancers and new partnerships with name brand companies. Companies that do not see using aborted fetus tissues as an unethical practice.
Even though many may believe that using aborted fetus cells may not be harming anything, the practice is horrendous and unethical. In comparison, it is no different than using the kidney cells of a deceased relative. In light of things, Senomyx may not seem to be such an unethical company if the cells were obtained from live adults and not aborted fetuses. Many Americans are truly upset by the practices of Senomyx and are refusing to buy products that contain flavors made by Senomyx.
Disclaimer: The information contained in this article is for educational purposes only and should not be used for diagnosis or to guide treatment without the opinion of a health professional. Any reader who is concerned about his or her health should contact a doctor for advice.
Sources:
Wolfson, Wendy. November 26, 2009. The Tastemakers: Senomyx Targets Taste Receptors-Mendeley. November 16, 2011. Retrieved from Mendeley website: http://s3.amazonaws.com/mendeley-pdf-previews/23/c1/23c1db34a1e1904c09c6dcfff202eaf28ee5e5c0_1.png.
Senomyx. Unknown. Senomyx: Collaborations. November 17, 2011. Retrieved from Senomyx website: http://www.senomyx.com/collaborations/.
Senomyx. Unknown. Senomyx: News. November 17, 2011. Retrieved from Senomyx website: http://news-media.senomyx.com/.
Senomyx. Unknown. Senomyx: Company Info. November 17, 2011. Retrieved from Senomyx website: http://www.senomyx.com/company/.
Senomyx. Unknown. Senomyx: Careers: Benefits. November 17, 2011. Retrieved from Senomyx website: http://careers.senomyx.com/benefits.htm.
Senomyx. Unknown. Senomyx: News. November 17, 2011. Retrieved from Senomyx website: http://news-media.senomyx.com/2011_highlights.htm.
Senomyx Cares. Unknown. Senomyx Cares: Corporate Social Responsibility. November 17, 2011. Retrieved from Senomyx Cares: http://www.senomyx-csrblog.com/.
Elisheva Weyers - My articles are written out of my genuine interest and not purely for monetary gain.
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