Currently browsing posts about: Plant-based

The International Political Economy Society (IPES) food section has just issued this report.

Its major thesis: alternative plant- or cell-based alternative meats are not the solution to world food problems.

As the report’s author, Phil Howard, explains in his Civil Eats editorial:

The hype around alternative proteins also diverts our attention away from solutions that are already working on the ground: shifting to diversified agroecological production systems, strengthening territorial food chains and markets, and building “food environments” which increase access to healthy and sustainable diets. These pathways respond holistically to challenges whose breadth and depth have been well-evidenced. They entail transformative behavioral and structural shifts. They require sustainable food system transitions, not merely a protein transition. Yet without a consolidated set of claims and claim-makers behind them, these pathways are systematically sidelined.

Don’t feel like reading the report?  Watch the video.

Other resources:

• Executive summary:  EN | FR | ES | P
• Full report EN | FR | ES | PT 
• Infosheet: Fake meat in the spotlight [EN] — This document is especially useful.

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Much is happening in the plant-based food sector.  I love trying to keep up with it.

First, the bad, or somewhat bad, news:

• SPECIAL REPORT: Plant-based dairy and meat by numbers; declining trends continue, but pockets of growth remain: New data from IRI and SPINS shows continued steep declines in sales of refrigerated meat alternatives but pockets of growth in frozen products and some plant-based milk, cheese, and yogurt subcategories, which do not all behave in the same way (spoiler alert: oatmilk is hot, oat yogurt is not)…. Read more
• Meat substitutes contain ‘antinutrients’ that inhibit absorption of iron and zinc: ‘The industry needs to think about the nutritional value of these products’: New research out of Sweden has found that while many meat substitutes are high in micronutrients like iron they are often found in a form that cannot be absorbed by the body…. Read more 
• Business Insider A food fight is raging over what we can and can’t call ‘meat’:  Startups that make plant-based foods are battling the meat lobby for the right to describe their products as bacon, burgers or steak. Read More

Next, the new product launches:

• The latest food and drink plant-based product launches: Food Manufacture looks at some of the latest food and drink product launches in the plant-based and vegan category, including Meatless Farm, Seabloom, Richmond, Innocent and Sheese. Read more
• Voie gras: Nestlé develops plant-based foie gras alternative for European markets: Just six months on from inception, Nestlé’s vegan foie gras alternative is launching into Swiss and Spanish markets under its Garden Gourmet bran. Read more
• Plant-based butter set to revolutionise the art of pastry with low environmental impactBe Better My Friend is a Dutch company set up by chef Marike van Beurden, food scientist Pere Castells and global food strategist Joost Lindeman with a vision to end the bakery sector’s dependency on animal-derived ingredients…. Read more
• Creamy without the cow: ChickP releases plant-based ice cream with ‘a truly rich’ texture: ChickP Protein’s chickpea-based ice cream prototype boasts dairy-like creamy texture and fewer additives…. Read more
• Philadelphia Cream Cheese launches plant-based spread: The product, which is available at select retailers in the Southeastern U.S., is Kraft Heinz’s second non-dairy launch under one of its flagship brands in the last two months.

And where the industry might be headed:

• Food companies invited to collaborate on plant-based research: Plant2Food, a science platform from the Novo Nordisk Foundation, is inviting UK food companies to collaborate on plant and food science and share new knowledge. Read more

Comment: Despite the current drop in sales, I don’t see these products disappearing off the shelves.  There is a demand or them among people who do not want to eat meat or dairy foods for reasons of health, animal welfare, or the environment.  The products need to taste good if they are going to continue to sell.  And they need to become more food-based rather than ingredient-based if they are to overcome concerns about their meeting definitions of ultra-processed.

I will keep following this sector with great interest.  Stay tuned.

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Beyond Meat is taking a beating these days, and this study only adds to its  woes.

Assessing the effects of alternative plant-based meats v. animal meats on biomarkers of inflammation: a secondary analysis of the SWAP-MEAT randomized crossover trial.  Crimarco A, Landry MJ, Carter MM, Gardner CD.  J Nutr Sci.  2022;11:e82.  doi:10.1017/jns.2022.84

Abstract: Alternative plant-based meats have grown in popularity with consumers recently and researchers are examining the potential health effects, or risks, from
consuming these products…the purpose of this work was to conduct a secondary analysis of…a randomised crossover trial that involved generally healthy adults eating 2 or more servings of plant-based meats per day for 8 weeks (i.e. Plant phase) followed by 2 or more servings of animal meats per day for 8 weeks (i.e. Animal phase). Results of linear mixed-effects models indicated only 4 out of 92 biomarkers reached statistical significance. The results were contrary to our hypothesis, since we expected relative improvements in biomarkers of inflammation from the plant-based meats.

Conflicts of interest: “Gardner [the senior author] received gift funding from Beyond Meat which was used to conduct the original research study.”

Comment:  This is a follow up to the original research, which I wrote about previously.  That study found a positive result:

A diet that includes an average of two servings of plant-based meat alternatives lowers some cardiovascular risk factors compared with a diet that instead includes the same amount of animal meat…This study found several beneficial effects and no adverse effects from the consumption of plant-based meats.

The investigators tested the effects of substituting Beyond Meat for animal meats on 92 biomarkers of inflammation.  They found hardly any to be improved by the Beyond Meat substitution.

This disappointed the investigators but I’ll bet it disappointed Beyond Meat even more.

This study was not specifically funded by Beyond Meat.

This work was supported by Stanford University’s Precision Health and Integrated Diagnostics Center (PHIND) and in part by a training grant from the NIH National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute [T32 HL007034].

It is consistent with the overall observation that industry-funded research tends to find results favorable to the sponsor’s interest; independently funded research can go either way.  See my book, Unsavory Truth, for details and references.

Thanks to Stephen Zwick for sending this one.

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Uh oh.  Plenty of bad news in the plant-based meat arena.

I.  Partnership with health organizations. 

The plant-based meat company, Beyond Meat, is partnering with the American Cancer Society to sponsor research on the potential benefits of plant-based meat to cancer preventon.

Beyond Meat, Inc., a leader in plant-based meat, and the American Cancer Society (ACS), today announced a multi-year agreement to advance research on plant-based meat and cancer prevention, as well as to help ACS continue to build the foundation of plant-based meat and diet data collection. The commitment aims to advance the understanding of how plant-based meats contribute to healthy diet patterns and their potential role in cancer prevention and is a crucial step towards long-term research in the plant-based protein field.

Here’s the Cancer Society’s rationale:

Since 2015, the International Agency for Research on Cancer has classified red meat as a carcinogen that increases the risk of colorectal cancer, and recent studies also suggest a possible role of red and/or processed meats in increasing the risk of breast cancer and certain forms of prostate cancer.  For years, the American Cancer Society investigators conducted foundational work identifying the link of red and processed meat to cancer…ACS guidelines point to evidence of a significant link between high red and processed meat consumption and an increased risk of colorectal cancer as the primary reason for the recommendation to limit those products.

OK, but research sponsored by a company that stands to benefit from studies showing a benefit of highly processed plant-based meat substitutes?

My prediction: the studies will show benefits.

If the ACS wants such studies, it should fund them on its own.

II.  Dirty factories.

Bloomberg News has a report on unclean and unsafe conditions in a Beyond Meat factory.

III.  Loss of customers.

The New York Times says Beyond Meat is struggling.

But these days, Beyond Meat has lost some of its sizzle.

Its stock has slumped nearly 83 percent in the past year. Sales, which the company had expected to rise as much as 33 percent this year, are now likely to show only minor growth…In late October, the company said it was laying off 200 people, or 19 percent of its work force. And four top executives have departed in recent months, including the chief financial officer, the chief supply chain officer and the chief operating officer, whom Beyond Meat had suspended after his arrest on allegations that he bit another man’s nose in a parking garage altercation.

What investors and others are debating now is whether Beyond Meat’s struggles are specific to the company or a harbinger of deeper issues in the plant-based meat industry.

IV.  Business issues.

The Wall Street Journal reports: “Beyond Meat’s Very Real Problems: Slumping Sausages, Mounting Losses.”

Mr. Brown has said Beyond and other meat-alternative companies are facing challenges as they compete with less expensive real meat at a time of inflation and consumer uncertainty over the health benefits of what many see as highly processed products.

IV.  More research needed.

A study looking at the implications of replacing meat with plant-based alternatives makes that point clearly.

See: Santo RE, et al.  Considering Plant-Based Meat Substitutes and Cell-Based Meats: A Public Health and Food Systems Perspective.  Front. Sustain. Food Syst., 31 August 2020.

Research to date suggests that many of the purported environmental and health benefits of cell-based meat are largely speculative…The broader socioeconomic and political implications of replacing farmed meat with meat alternatives merit further research.

An additional factor to consider is that much of the existing research on plant-based substitutes and cell-based meats has been funded or commissioned by companies developing these products, or by other organizations promoting these products.

Of course we need more research.  Don’t we always?

The bottom line:  It’s hard to convince people to like fake foods, especially when they are expensive.

Soylent Green, anyone?

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The big news in the plant-based food world last week was Beyond Meat’s retrenchment and legal hassles.   Here’s how these issues are being covered by the food business press.

• Beyond Meat lays off 200 employees and slashes its revenue outlook: The plant-based meat company, which is eliminating about a fifth of its workforce after cutting staff in August, said the latest job reductions can drive more sustainable growth.
• Beyond Meat to lay off 200 staff, shake up exec team, as it targets cash flow positive operations in late 2023:  Loss-making plant-based meat co Beyond Meat – which is currently squaring up to former co-packer Don Lee Farms in a trial in L.A. – has unveiled plans to lay off approximately 200 employees (19% of its global workforce) in a bid to cut costs and achieve cash flow positive operations within the second half of 2023…. Read more
• 64-strong witness list unveiled as Beyond Meat squares off with former co-packer Don Lee Farms in LA court: Former executive chairman Seth Goldman, CEO Ethan Brown, Mattson CEO Justin Shimek and a cluster of senior Beyond Meat executives, past and present, are listed among 64 potential witnesses in the plant-based meat co’s trial with former co-packer Don Lee Farms starting today (Oct 11) in Los Angeles…. Read more
• Beyond Meat’s corporate shakeup sees 3 exec departures, including suspended COO:  Doug Ramsey, who was arrested on assault charges last month, officially lost his job, and the CPG eliminated the position of chief global growth officer. Its CFO also announced his departure.
• Big Meat retrenches as meat alternatives lose their luster: The nation’s leading meat companies all got in on the action on meat alternatives, with investments in plant-based and cell-cultured meat startups and their own dedicated consumer brands. But with category sales weakening in recent months amid surging inflation, where do they stand today?… Read mor
• After billions in investment, plant-based meat is a branding catastrophe: There is zero differentiation or branding in the space; all the players are stuck in Motorola Land, going no further than saying “We are plant-based,” writes Adam Hanft.Read More  
• Plant-based products are globally growing but do they cater to all?  Plant-based foods such as meat and dairy alternatives have been around for many years, but they’re becoming more popular and of higher quality than ever…. Read more

Right now, this sector looks bleak, but who knows how this will play out.  Not me, for sure.

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This one comes from Great Britain.

Whew.  I was worried about potatoes.  What a relief!

I thought it was a spoof, but it’s not.  ASDA (formerly Associated Dairies) is a Walmart subsidiary in Great Britain.

It offers other products labeled the same way.   In case you were worried.

Replacing animal-based foods with plan-based foods continues to be high on the startup agenda.  Here are some recent items:

On the business side:

• Growing demand for alternative protein sources, new report claims: There is a growing demand for protein sources for both human and animal consumption, a new report from UK Research and Innovation’s (UKRI’s) Transforming Food Production Challenge programme has revealed. Read more
• Breaking news: Kellogg Company splits into three: The Pringles, Special K and Eggo maker is making a bold move to separate into three independent companies, spinning off its US, Canadian and Caribbean cereal and plant-based businesses, which collectively represented approximately 20% of its net sales in 2021…. Read more

Plant-based meat alternatives:

• Mighty mushroom: Mycoprotein touted as future of protein due to flavour, nutrition and sustainability credentials Asia’s first mycoprotein technology firm Mycovation believes that its products are the true future of alternative protein, with the firm touting its flavour, nutrition and sustainability credentials…. Read more
• ‘Faux chicken fooled me’: One in five American consumers in a national survey said they accidentally purchased a plant-based protein alternative while believing it was chicken. (National Chicken Council)
• New method to extract protein from tomato leaves: A new method of extracting protein from tomato leaves could help accelerate adoption of plant-based diets and boost the sustainability of plant-based meat alternatives, according to Wageningen University & Research. Read more 
• Beyond Meat to launch plant-based steak, CEO says:  Beyond Meat will launch a plant-based sliced steak product most likely later this year, CEO Ethan Brown said at The Wall Street Journal’s Global Food Forum, the newspaper first reported. It will first launch at retail and then in some restaurants, Brown said at the event.

Plant-based chocolate:

• Hershey replaces milk solids with roasted grain flour for improved dairy-free chocolate: The Hershey Company has filed a patent application covering the substitution of dairy solids with roasted grain flour, which it says yields ‘improved organoleptic and rheological properties’ over known dairy-free chocolates…. Read more
• Mars unveils ‘earth-friendly’ animal-free dairy chocolate brand CO2COA: ‘We believe there is a sizable consumer opportunity in this space.’  Mars is dipping its toes into the emerging animal-free dairy space with the launch of a lactose-free milk chocolate brand called CO2COA featuring Rainforest Alliance Certified cocoa and Perfect Day’s non-animal whey protein, which is made by genetically engineered microbes, not cows…. Read more

Sufficiently delicious?  You decide.

Carole Bartoletto, who works with dining services at UCLA, sent me two items.

• A toolkit to encourage dining halls to promote choices of meals with lower carbon footprints.
• A research study: Increasing the Selection of Low-Carbon Footprint Entrées through the Addition of New Menu Items and a Social Marketing Campaign in University Dining.

I started with the research study.

Its title requires translation.  Low-carbon footprint means plant-based.  In this case, it means Impossible brand plant-based meat alternatives.

Their intervention succeeded in encouraging substitution of Impossible for beef, but had unintended consequences.

Although the intervention was followed by a decrease in sales of beef entrées and increase in sales of plant-based meat entrées, sales of other vegetarian entrées also decreased.

Students replaced vegetarian choices with Impossible burgers?

To their credit, the authors acknowledge the problem.

It is also worth discussing the nutritional differences between plant-based meat and other low-carbon footprint options. In general, lower-carbon foods (i.e., plant-based and sustainably-raised fish) tend to be healthier, but this is not always the case. Plant-based meat products such as Impossible™ are ultra-processed and relatively high in sodium and saturated fat. Consuming ultra-processed foods has been linked with higher calorie intake and weight gain (Hall et al., 2019).

The toolkit, in contrast, includes Impossible products but does not focus on them.  It presents a variety of vegetarian and vegan options as low-carbon options with many illustrations of ways to present this information.

This could be useful, and maybe more useful, without the Impossible products, especially if the ultra-processed meal alternatives discourage choices of vegetarian options.

Take a look and see what you think.

Note: an educational intervention in Great Britain that also gave participants free plant-based meats found more of them sto be consumed, unsurprisingly.

ADDITION, July 1: I received this message in response to this post from Hannah Malen, at UCLA:

Dear Marion,

As one of your fans and newsletter subscribers, I was excited to see that you covered the low-carbon footprint dining intervention we did at UCLA! I collaborated with the innovative and talented folks at UCLA Dining as part of my dissertation work. It was an awesome experience to design, implement, and study a real-world intervention.

Unfortunately, I was a bit disappointed by your summary of the study. I felt your assessment overlooked some of the nuances that make this work challenging and important.

1) Low-carbon footprint does not mean only plant-based in this case. We created low-, medium-, and high-carbon footprint cutoffs based on life cycle analysis data and feasibility of real-world implementation. The criteria were created for the purposes of classifying menu items AND educating students about the relative impacts of different foods. Based on our criteria, low-carbon footprint included vegetarian menu items with < 2 ounces of cheese AND menu items with sustainable fish. I think this is worth noting because low-carbon footprint doesn’t have to mean ONLY plant-based or vegan…it also means some vegetarian items with cheese are NOT low-carbon footprint.

2) The decision to add Impossible plant-based meat alternative products to the menu was strategic and led by our Dining Director. As we know, it can be hard to appeal to meat-eaters, and Impossible-type products have been more successful than many other alternatives. While sales of the new Impossibile products did coincide with decreases in sales of other vegetarian items, I don’t think it’s accurate to say they discouraged choices of vegetarian options. We studied and saw shifts across basically all categories of menu items, which I think is a strength of the research. We also saw that overall, sales of low-carbon footprint items increased, while sales of medium- and high-carbon footprint items decreased. On average, this corresponded with an 8% decrease in the carbon footprint of entrees sold.

All this to say, it’s complicated, and I’m proud that we are among the first to look at the dynamics of introducing Impossible plant-based meat alternatives into food environments. Of course it’s ideal if eaters swap beans or veggies for meat, but the path to get there is certainly not easy.

Thanks for the opportunity to share our work and respond to your coverage. (And thanks to Carole for being a champion of the work and leader in creating the toolkit!)

Kind regards,

Hannah