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However, he also argued that the world must embrace a future where controversial gene-edited foods are commonplace on supermarket shelves. He said we will soon be eating meat and drinking milk from animals whose evolution has been ‘sped up’ using technology. This could include cows and chickens bred to resist disease and grow faster, as gene editing techniques make them ‘more efficient’ in every way. Experts are working out how to ‘accelerate’ the selection of traits that already occur naturally within an animal, he explained. Scientists have bred cows with ‘elite genetics’ that could see tastier steaks, burgers and mince...

A bellwether in the vegan food industry is getting a raw deal on Wall Street. Beyond Meat — once worth $7.8billion — is now almost worthless after an attempt to tackle its debt got the thumbs down from investors. The near collapse of Beyond isn't just a blow for the company itself — it's a clear symptom of the wider vegan food industry. As the poster child for plant-based meat, analysts say its struggles underline the sector's core problems: limited consumer demand, high prices, and products that often fail to deliver on taste or convenience. Beyond's stock plunged 50 percent...

Hey, kids — it's trivia time. But don't sweat today's question because it's an easy one. What do you get when you take carbon dioxide captured from the atmosphere, hydrogen from water split by renewable energy, and glycerol, then use proprietary catalysts in high-pressure bubble reactors to synthesize hydrocarbon chains, oxidize them into fatty acids, esterify them into triglycerides that mimic the molecular structure of a common fat, and finally blend and crystallize the result, before extruding it into four-ounce sticks? Something very much but not exactly like butter! See, I told you this was an easy one. But don't...

For several years anti-abortion advocates have been warning that a new technology for enhancing flavors such as sweetness and saltiness uses aborted fetal cells in the process. The biotech company using this novel process, Senomyx, has signed contracts with Pepsi, Ajinomoto Co. (the maker of aspartame and meat glue), Nestlé and other food and beverage companies over the past several years. The primary goal for many of these processed food companies is to make foods and beverages tasty while reducing sugar and salt content. While Senomyx refuses to disclose the details of the process, its patent applications indicate that part...

Full headline: Would you eat a burger made from INSECTS? Mealworm-based food line set to hit grocery stores in Switzerland next week Switzerland's second-largest supermarket chain, Coop, announced it would begin selling an insect burger, and insect balls, based on protein-rich mealworm. ... Swiss food safety laws were changed last May to allow for the sale of food items containing three types of insects: crickets, grasshoppers and mealworms, which are the larval form of the mealworm beetle. These insects, long used in animal feed, must be bred under strict supervision for four generations before they are considered appropriate for human...

A New York Times analysis found no identifiable tuna DNA in Subway’s tuna sandwich, the newspaper reported over the weekend, citing tests conducted by a commercial lab. The Times bought 60 inches of Subway tuna sandwiches from three different Subway locations in Los Angeles. A reporter for the newspaper then removed and froze the tuna and sent it to an unidentified commercial food testing lab. The newspaper said it paid roughly $500 for the lab to conduct a PCR test to see if the substance had one of five different tuna species. After a month, the lab said it found...

Subway claims that its tuna is "100% wild caught," but a lab test paid for by The New York Times found absolutely no tuna DNA in over 60 inches of sandwich.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the first time cleared a meat product grown from animal cells for human consumption, the agency announced on Wednesday.UPSIDE Foods, a company that makes cell-cultured chicken by harvesting cells from live animals and using the cells to grow meat in stainless-steel tanks, will be able to bring its products to market once it has been inspected by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), said a release from the FDA. “The world is experiencing a food revolution and the (FDA) is committed to supporting innovation in the food supply,” said FDA Commissioner Robert...

In two days an EU regulation will go into effect that allows for ‘acheta domesticus’, aka house crickets, to be added to flour, bread, pasta etc. as an ‘authorised novel food for the general population’. They want you to eat bugs without you knowing it.🦗 https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/ALL/?uri=CELEX%3A32023R0005 The application requested for partially defatted powder obtained from whole Acheta domesticus (house cricket) to be used in multigrain bread and rolls, crackers and breadsticks, cereal bars, dry pre-mixes for baked products, biscuits, dry stuffed and non-stuffed pasta-based products, sauces, processed potato products, legume- and vegetable- based dishes, pizza, pasta-based products, whey powder, meat...

“Italy is the first nation to say no to synthetic food, to so-called ‘synthetic meat’. It does so with a formal and official act,” Health Minister Orazio Schillaci announced. “The resolution calls for a commitment to ban the production, marketing, and import of synthetic foods within our territory. “These regulations aim to regulate situations where the environmental public health could be at risk, or when there is uncertainty regarding the effects of certain products that are being or will be introduced to the market or consumed,” Schillaci continued. “It is crucial to have measures in place to address these potential...

Beyond Meat has pushed back against rumors that it has filed for bankruptcy, calling recent media reports “unequivocally false.” The denial comes after several headlines suggested the company was headed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy – a court-supervised process that allows businesses or individuals to restructure debts while continuing to operate and repay creditors. According to Beyond Meat, the rumors are unfounded. In a statement to Plant Based News, a company spokesperson said: “We have not filed, nor are we planning to file, for bankruptcy.” Beyond Meat’s financial struggles Beyond Meat CEO Ethan Brown recently expressed disappointment at the company’s fall...

> You would have never guessed that Bill Gates was backing this new carbon-based butter, would you? Butter made from carbon tastes like the real thing, gets backing from Bill Gates A company in Batavia, Illinois is making butter in a way you've never seen before. No animals, no plants, no oils; this butter is made from carbon. WWW.CBSNEWS.COM https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/butter-carbon-bill-gates-batavia-illinois/ This stuff is being produced by Savor in the Chicago suburbs. The butter uses no animals, no plants, and no oils. I simply cannot fathom the idea, so I'll quote Bill Gates' blog: They ultimately developed a process that involves...

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has cleared its first-ever lab-grown fish for sale in the United States — based entirely on data submitted by the manufacturer. Wildtype, a California-based food tech company, is now approved to serve its cell-cultivated coho salmon.This FDA approval makes Wildtype the fourth company cleared to market lab-grown animal products in the country. The salmon is now available on the menu at Kann, a high-profile Haitian restaurant in Portland. The company plans to roll out its “salmon” in four additional restaurants in the coming months, followed by a broader launch into the food-service sector.What FDA...

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) last week gave a U.K.-based biotech company the green light to produce gene-edited pigs for human consumption in the U.S. PIC, formerly the Pig Improvement Company, uses CRISPR gene-editing technology to genetically engineer pigs to be resistant to porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS), a viral infection that affects pigs produced in industrial factory farms, according to Technology Review. PRRS, which first emerged in the 1980s, is a contagious respiratory virus that causes fever, respiratory issues and reproductive failure in pigs. It can also suppress the immune system, making pigs more vulnerable to...

In a nutshell * Scientists successfully 3D printed plant-based calamari rings using mung bean protein and microalgae, creating a seafood alternative that closely matches real squid in texture and even surpasses it in protein content. * The 10% microalgae formulation achieved the best results, producing calamari mimics that were softer, springier, and structurally similar to real calamari, without relying on overfished marine resources. * This innovation highlights a promising future for sustainable seafood alternatives, leveraging underused crops like mung beans and algae to reduce pressure on ocean ecosystems while meeting growing demand for plant-based foods. ******************************************************************************* SINGAPORE — Your next...

In 2024, lab-grown meat, or cultured meat, reached a point of gaining several regulatory approvals in various countries. These approvals mark crucial steps forward for the industry, assuring the public that the food is safe to eat and that investors are making wise decisions. It’s an industry that is projected to reach a value of $25 billion by 2030! However, some countries have gone as far as to ban the meat as it gets caught up in all sorts of political games

A Pentagon-funded company is seeking proposals to feed America’s soldiers lab-grown meat in a bid to "reduce the CO2 footprint" at Defense Department outposts. BioMADE, a public-private company that has received more than $500 million in funding from the Defense Department, announced earlier this month that it is seeking proposals to develop "innovations in food production that reduce the CO2 footprint of food production at ... DoD operational environments," according to an online announcement. These include "novel cell culture methods suitable for the production of cultivated meat/protein," or lab-grown meat, a product that is still in its experimental phases. This...

Scientists in Brazil have engineered a cow to produce human insulin in its milk, making history as the world’s first transgenic cow capable of such a feat. Though still a long way off, the researchers hope that this bovine breakthrough could open doors for sustainable insulin production and help tackle the world's insulin supply problems. For now, the achievement is just a proof-of-concept – but with additional testing and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval, it could be scaled up to rival current insulin production methods, which involve genetically modified yeast and bacteria. "Mother Nature designed the mammary gland as...

Plant-based diets are often seen as healthier alternatives to eating meat and dairy - with around one in five adopting the diet for health reasons. The way of eating, which has risen in popularity by at least a third since 2017, can involve anything from ditching meat, to going fully vegan, without eggs, milk or cheese. However, these foods could be loaded with sodium, which could raise blood pressure, packed with obesity-causing saturated fat, and stripped of bone-building calcium, a major analysis suggests. Researchers evaluated more than 700 plant-based foods sold in supermarkets, including burgers, sausages, milk, cheese, and yogurt,...

Beef burgers are back on the menu as demand for vegan food plunges.Veganism is being edged out and meat is back on the menu with the latest craze among foodies being ‘smashed burgers’, new data suggests.Plant-based brand Beyond Meat last week revealed its revenue had dropped by 9 per cent as demand for its animal alternatives stalled.