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I want to ask the phrase “spitting out milk proteins” mean” means in this context?

Perfect Day utilizes the same process as the insulin and rennet manufacturers, with its yeast (which they’ve named Buttercup) spitting out milk proteins instead of rennet components. “And then, once we have the milk the yeast created,” Gandhi deadpans, “we slaughter the yeast cells by the trillions without even shedding a tear.”

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    Hello Le Minh, Can you explain what your difficulty is with this phrase. Do you know the word "spit" (verb)? Do you understand "spit out"? Do you know what "milk proteins" are? Are you familiar with "extended meanings" - for example the word "run" can mean "Move fast" and doesn't always mean "using legs to move fast"
    – James K
    Commented Sep 30 at 6:23
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    If you know what the verb spit means, the meaning becomes clearer. If you understand what "spit out" means, the meaning is clearer still. This is what James K comment was asking. If users understand better your level of English then the answer(s) will be more helpful. Looking up the meanings of words should be your first step, then explaining why the dictionary definitions did not help is your next step. I think the question is quite useful, it just needed five minutes of research and sharing your findings. Next time, maybe?
    – Mari-Lou A
    Commented Sep 30 at 12:25
  • OP is not asking the usage or meaning of the phrase "spit out", which is a simple English phrase and easy to understand. But whether the usage yeast spitting out milk proteins" by the qualified (biomedical engineer and scientist) founder of the company.
    – James Mathai
    Commented Oct 7 at 23:48

3 Answers 3

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It is an informal, somewhat grotesque choice of expression in this context, in a paragraph marked by grotesquerie.

The phrasal verb "spit out" refers to ejecting something from the mouth, and is used as an informal figure of speech of devices and machines and processes.

A parent might say to a toddler who has put a penny in their mouth, "Spit it out". That is how it is used literally.

A police interrogator might say to a suspect who is being very slow or reluctant to answer a question, "C'mon, spit it out!" and the meaning would be "spit out the words", that is, "Answer my question!"

Figuratively, for example, a toll booth on a turnpike might be said to "spit out a ticket". Or someone can complain that an ATM, a machine that conveniently issues paper money, "didn't spit out my card". Someone could speak derisively of a prolific hack author, saying "she spits out a bodice ripper every quarter."

P.S. A neutral choice would have been "making". The word "producing" would suffice in a more formal context.

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  • +1 if you say what would be its more formal equivalent. I haven't the foggiest otherwise I would have posted an answer. Excrete? Produce? Formulate?
    – Mari-Lou A
    Commented Sep 30 at 12:36
  • "making" would have been neutral. Doesn't need to be formal. "producing" would suffice in a formal context.
    – TimR
    Commented Sep 30 at 12:40
  • Add it to your answer and +1 from me. Do you agree with Driftwood's suggestion: "churning out"? I think that's overkill but I'm not sure
    – Mari-Lou A
    Commented Sep 30 at 12:41
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    "churning out" doesn't have the grotesquerie of "spitting out" though it does come from making butter from milk fat using a churn, so there's a reason not to use it here since that process isn't involved.
    – TimR
    Commented Sep 30 at 12:43
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    I think your examples about toll booths and ATMs should show that there are enough common usages that it isn't inherently grotesque. When I speak of a machine "spitting out" an object I'm not consciously thinking about the human mouth.
    – Andy Bonner
    Commented Sep 30 at 13:18
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Cow’s Milk—Without Cows

The usage of the term "yeast spitting out milk proteins" is by the founder of "Perfect Day".
Perumal Gandhi and Ryan Pandya are the co-founders of a startup company named "Perfect Day" in San Francisco.

Ref. fortune.com.
They got a strain of yeast, which they call Buttercup, from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The yeast ferments sugar to make real milk proteins (casein and whey), which are then combined with plant-based fats and nutrients to get milk that’s lactose free. https://fortune.com/2016/08/31/animal-free-cows-milk-perfect-day/

The founder of "Perfect day", who is trained in biomedical engineering used a informal term "yeast spitting" for this process, which is technically known as "yeast secretion".
He also highlighted the fact that they are slaughtering trillions of yeast cells (no animal slaughter). Google search would show the term "yeast spitting" in some locations. Similar process for making beer from hops; wine from grapes; penicillin made from penicillium; etc.

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  • @Mari-LouA This article is by Imperial College London. (Honey is produced by honey bee spitting out.. ). They found that spitting the pathway between two yeast strains resulted in enhanced production of resveratrol when compared to the traditional production platform. phys.org/news/2024-02-toolkit-yeast-strains-key-cellular.html
    – James Mathai
    Commented Sep 30 at 13:55
  • Another valid website. imperial.ac.uk/news/251334/….
    – James Mathai
    Commented Sep 30 at 14:18
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    That last link looks like it contains a spelling error, splitting the pathway (not spitting) between the two yeast strains resulted in… See the answers posted, no one is saying "spitting" is used in that field, the speaker was being creative with language. And you shouldn't say Google shows "yeast spitting" in some ‘locations’ when 1. it's unclear what is meant by ‘location’ and 2. It's not true. I checked, the results for "yeast spitting" (within inverted commas), yields nothing. Where's the supporting evidence?
    – Mari-Lou A
    Commented Sep 30 at 14:39
  • Everything else is fine. Good answer, and the term secretion sounds a much more plausible term than spit
    – Mari-Lou A
    Commented Sep 30 at 14:42
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    Just to clarify, I am objecting to this analysis: "They have used a common term "yeast spitting" for this process" Is it a common phrase? Is it really?
    – Mari-Lou A
    Commented Sep 30 at 14:59
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Usually a negative connotation, eg 'spitting vitriol', this usage would however seem to be appreciative of unfettered production. Given the context, the author should've gone for 'churning out'.

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  • Thanks for your answer
    – Le Minh
    Commented Sep 30 at 10:11
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    +1 for churning out. In my understanding, alcohol is a waste product from regular brewer's yeast, so that one should be pissing out alcohol!
    – FumbleFingers
    Commented Sep 30 at 10:13
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    I don't think there was anything wrong with the choice; see TimR's mention of ATMs . It's common to talk about them "spitting out" bills.
    – Andy Bonner
    Commented Sep 30 at 13:16
  • I think that churning out is a poor metaphor, given that we have milk in the picture - which is churned to make butter.
    – Toby Speight
    Commented Sep 30 at 15:05

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