Currently browsing posts about: Protein

Emily K. Abel.  Gluten Free for Life.  NYU Press, 2025.

I was surprised to be asked to do a blurb for this book, since I don’t have to worry much about gluten and rarely comment on clinical medicine, but after reading it I was glad to do one.  It’s a really good book.  My back cover blurb:

This important book is a rousing call for action—medical, dietary, social, and political–to protect people with celiac disease from the gluten proteins that make them sick. Emily Abel’s analysis of the barriers to avoidance, from unaware doctors to food companies’ lobbying against labeling to widespread ignorance of where gluten lurks in food, should convince us all to insist that gluten be labeled and products monitored to ensure they really are gluten free.

Celiac disease turns out to be a genetically determined autoimmune reaction to digested fragments of gluten proteins. The autoimmune reaction destroys the lining of the intestine, causing serious digestive illness and preventing nutrient absorption.  People with celiac disease display nutrient deficiences and many other symptoms beyond digestive.  These are more difficult to explain and put this disease in a category similar to that of other poorly understood multi-symptom diseases.

Wheat, rye, and barley contain gluten proteins.  Corn and oats do not, but they are easily contaminated with wheat in silos or trucks.

Symptoms of celiac disease ought to disappear when people strictly avoid foods containing sources of gluten.

But this book emphasizes that strict avoidance is practically impossible for most people with this condition.  Why? Gluten proteins seemingly are everywhere in the food supply, not least because food preparers don’t realize what they are.

Abel makes a strong case for celiac disease—and gluten—as deeply misunderstood, maligned, and neglected.

She quotes the voices of many people with this condition, in despair over how long it took them to be diagnosed, how hard it is for friends and relatives to understand what it takes for them to avoid gluten, and how often they are “glutened” in error.

As a result of reading this book, I will join calls for better labeling—-and for rigorous, scrupulous efforts to make gluten-free mean what it says.

Cell-culture isn’t just for beef anymore.  I’ve been collecting items…

FOIE GRAS:  ProVeg hails application for EU approval of cultivated foie gras: French company seeks approval for product made from cultivated duck cells.

EEL:  Cultivated eel that ‘melts in your mouth’? How Forsea mimics ‘tender, succulent’ texture of fish and seafood:  Eel meat is unlike any other: it is fatty, tender, and ‘almost melts in your mouth’, explains Roee Nir, co-founder and CEO of Forsea Foods. The start-up is working to mimic these attributes with stem cells in a lab…. Read more

COFFEE:  A cup of lab-grown Joe: researchers release proof of concept for cell-cultured coffee: Dr. Heiko Rischer and his team at VTT Technical Research of Finland published its cell-cultured coffee recipe, highlighting the opportunity to strengthen and reinforce the global coffee supply chain…. Read more

BREAST MILK: Cell-based breast milk in development to replace ‘suboptimal’ bovine infant formula: Can the complexities of breast milk be replicated by cows? France-based Nūmi doesn’t think so. The start-up is turning to cell culture to develop the ‘closest thing possible’ to breast milk…. Read more

PET FOOD: Cultivated meat pet food gains UK approval in world first:Meatly has announced that it has received regulatory clearance to sell cultivated meat for pet food in the UK…. Read more

PROTEIN: Beyond Meat launches ‘first of its kind’ protein to appeal to health-conscious consumers:  The company’s latest product is not intended to replicate beef, pork or chicken. It comes amid a sharp downturn in plant-based meat consumption.

MEAT AND SEAFOOD: Cultivated meat and seafood watch: What’s the latest in cultivated?  Cultivated meat, despite only being on the market in one country (Singapore), is on the rise…. Read more

AND THE POLITICS, OF COURSE: Nebraska governor says no to lab-grown meat: If Gov. Jim Pillen has his way, Nebraska legislators will pass a law banning the sale of “lab-grown meat” — the industry prefers the term cultivated meat — during its next session. Florida and Alabama enacted state bans on the alternative meat this year, and Iowa has barred school districts and publicly funded colleges from buying the meat.

The idea of adding or substituting insects for other protein foods is a big deal these days, if you count the amount of venture capital going into insect food startups.

Here are a few of the latest things I’ve seen on the topic.  Enjoy!

• Edible Insects Crawl Into the Food Market Amid Growing Investment Based on Climate and Security Benefits:   More governments, large companies and investors are joining start-ups in the quest to deliver edible insects to the world’s dining tables.  Insects turn energy into protein more efficiently and with less environmental impact than livestock, but some critics raise concerns.
• Interest in eating insects can be increased, study shows:  At a time when meat consumption is increasingly being seen as unsustainable, eating insects is for many a comparatively better option. However, many people in the West find insects difficult to stomach. A new study shows that it is possible to increase people’s interest in insect consumption…. Read more
• Termites as human foods—A comprehensive review:  This paper aims to share recent findings by covering edible termites as the main aspect, from their consumption record until consumer acceptance.  Read More
• Could eating insects slow weight gain in people with obesity?  A new study suggests consuming insect protein slows weight gain and improves health status in obese mice. The findings are promising for humans, lead study author Kelly Swanson, interim director of the Division of Nutritional Sciences at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, tells FoodNavigator…. Read more
• Insect-protein dog food producer in rapid growth mode:  Percuro, based in Europe, is investing in production capacity to keep up with its fast global sales growth. Read more

IPES-Food, the International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems, has a new report: The politics of protein: Examining claims about livestock, fish, “alternative proteins” and sustainability 

The report contains a deep analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of these eight claims.

The report’s argument is that the focus on protein is overblown.

For decades, the perceived need for more protein has led to distractions and distortions in development programs, flawed marketing and nutritional campaigns, and calls to increase the production and trade of meat, dairy, and protein-enriched foods.

Today, the evidence clearly shows that there is no global ‘protein gap’: protein is only one of many nutrients missing in the diets of those suffering from hunger and malnutrition, and insufficiency of these diets is primarily a result of poverty and access.

The report displays data to back up its arguments in attractive and easily understood charts.  Its conclusions are clearly marked.  Example:  part of the conclusion for Claim #5: Alternative proteins are a win-win.

In conclusion, there are too many uncertainties and data gaps, and too much variation between systems, to make a definitive statement on whether ‘alternative proteins’ are more environmentally sustainable than animal source foods as a whole. Bold and categorical claims about ‘alternative proteins’ being a ‘win-win-win’ are therefore likely to be misleading…The validity of claims about ‘alternative proteins’ (and the purported benefits of these products) ultimately comes down to how foods are produced, what food systems we consider to be desirable and viable, how we weigh up trade-offs ….

Sensibly, the report makes only three recommendations:

Comment:  I think this report is well done, well written, and well presented.   But here’s where this nutritionist gets cranky: Why title it Protein?  Protein is a nutrient, not a food.  Using protein to stand for foods that contain it is an example of “nutritionism,” the reduction of  the benefits of a food to its single components.

I had to search the report for an explanation of what IPES means by protein.  As far as I can tell, its writers assume you know what it means.  But sometimes the report refers to meat and protein, implying that meat means beef, and protein means protein-containing animal foods other than beef.  At other times, the report uses protein to include beef as well as poultry, fish, dairy, and insects.   But what about vegetables and grains?  They have protein too.  Legumes are particularly good sources; grains have nourished entire civilizations.

I realize that protein—a chefs’ term—is widely understood to stand for all foods, particularly from animals, that contain protein, but that’s nutritionally incorrect because basically every naturally occurring food contains some protein (OK, lettuce doeesn’t have much).

I wish everyone would find a better term, one that calls meat meat, if that’s what’s meant.

David Raubenheimer and Stephen J. Simpson.  Eat Like the Animals: What Nature Teaches Us About the Science of Healthy Eating.  Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2020.

I did a blurb for this book:

Eat Like the Animals is a must-read. This beautifully written book proposes a highly original and compelling explanation for why so many of us gain weight in today’s overprocessed food environment. Raubenheimer and Simpson are biologists who use their deep knowledge of animal and insect physiology, evolution, and feeding behavior to construct a compelling hypothesis: we share with animals an innate appetite for protein that regulates what we eat.

Here is one sample:

Our analyses, inspired all those years ago by experiments with locusts and then extended to primates in the wild, had provided a radical new insight into the obesity epidemic. Ultraprocessed foods make us fat not because we have such strong appetites for the fats and carbs they contain, as is often thought to be the case. Rather, we become overweight because our appetite for protein is stronger than our ability to limit fat and carb intake. So, when protein is diluted by fats and carbs, as it is in ultraprocessed foods, our appetite for it overwhelms the mechanisms that normally would tell us to stop eating fats and carbs. As a result, we eat more than we should, more than is good for us.”  (p. 144)

And here is another:

That realization provided one of the key insights of this book and one that has guided us ever since: the strong appetite for protein shared by all animals can lead us to eat too much or too little of other nutrients, including fats and carbs. If our protein appetite is not satisfied, we will overeat the other two. Once we get enough protein, our appetites cease driving us to eat more. That’s as simple as we can make nutrition—without oversimplifying it.  (P. 180)

Protein occurs in most foods but is especially abundant in meat, poultry, fish, dairy, eggs, grains, beans, nuts, and seeds.  Most of us get more than twice the amount we need on a daily basis.

But protein comes with a health aura.  It sells.

Hence: the food industry’s great interest in developing protein ingredients for food products.

FoodNavigator-USA, ever on top of current food trends, summarizes recent developments.

Special Edition: Protein in focus

While Americans typically get enough, there is no sign that the protein trend is going away, with growing numbers of food and beverage brands seeking to add additional protein to their wares or highlight the protein that’s always been there. We take a closer look…

• MycoTech raises $35m to fuel vegan mushroom protein ambitions, strikes strategic partnership: Boulder-based MycoTechnology has raised $35m in a series B financing round from a flurry of high profile investors* from Kellogg’s Eighteen94 Capital to Bunge Ventures and inked a strategic partnership with a leading player in the natural products industry to take its PureTaste vegan mushroom protein to the mass market… Read
• Naturex strikes global distribution deal with Mycotech for vegan mushroom protein: ‘We could see they had something new’: Natural ingredients giant Naturex has struck a global distribution deal with MycoTechnology, the fungi-fueled start-up behind Pure Taste fermented shiitake vegetable protein: a high-profile new entrant to the ‘alternative’ protein market. .. Read
• Hampton Creek explores the potential of mung bean protein isolate: Mung bean protein has potential applications in everything from egg substitutes to pasta and ice cream, says Hampton Creek, which has just received a ‘no questions’ letter from the FDA responding to its determination that its proprietary mung bean protein isolate is generally recognized as safe (GRAS)… Read
• Taste, texture, nutrition: Formulating with plant-based proteins: Plant-based proteins are creeping into a dizzying array of foods and beverages, from dairy-free ‘milks,’ ‘cheeses’ and ‘yogurts’ to protein bars, chips, powders and meat analogs. But what are they like to work with? FoodNavigator-USA caught up with experts at Cargill and Kerry to find out….. Read
• fairlife ultra-filtered milk sales surged 79% in 2016; Core Power and Yup! to be brought under fairlife brand umbrella: Dollar sales of Coca-Cola-backed high-protein milk fairlife grew 79% in 2016, as consumers continued to trade up in the fluid milk category… Read
• Carrington Farms unveils coconut protein blend: Carrington Farms has introduced a new vegan protein powder featuring organic coconut powder as the #1 ingredient, as consumers continue to embrace coconut-fueled products despite ongoing confusion about whether the saturated fat-packed fruits are as healthy as some marketers make out… Read
• Lightlife’s new Veggie Deli Slices eschew imitating animal proteins to celebrate vegetables: As flexitarian, vegetarian and vegan diets continue to gain traction, Lightlife is recasting plant-based protein from the lesser role of understudy or “alternate” to animal protein, and making it – and the fruits, vegetables and legumes it comes from – the star of the show with the launch of Veggie Deli Slices… Read
• Avocado oil specialist Chosen Foods explores move into refrigerated plant-based proteins: San Diego-based Chosen Foods – best known for its avocado oils and mayo – is considering a move into refrigerated plant-based protein foods and high-protein snacks as it sits down with its new owner, Mexican specialty oils and seeds supplier Sesajal, to decide how to allocate resources in the coming years… Read
• Atlantic Natural Foods seeks to disrupt sleepy shelf-stable plant-based protein category: The shelf-stable plant-based protein market is ripe for disruption, says Atlantic Natural Foods (ANF), which is hoping to bring incremental growth to the segment with a category-first: fully prepared vegetarian and vegan microwaveable meals in “healthy, portable, and affordable” pouches… Read
• Exo rebrands to play up the power of cricket in its snack bars, better connect with active consumers: As an early mover in the edible insect space, Exo initially downplayed the presence of crickets in its snack bars to help drive trial, but as the idea of eating bugs becomes more familiar to Americans the brand is more heavily featuring crickets in its new branding, packaging and marketing… Read
• Cargill and other ‘food industry giants’ join $17m funding round for clean meat co Memphis Meats: In another signal that traditional meat companies see cultured meat as an opportunity, rather than a threat, Cargill and other unnamed “food industry giants” have participated in a $17m funding round in clean meat firm Memphis Meats… Read
• Hampton Creek to enter clean meat market in 2018: ‘We are building a multi-species, multi-product platform’: The first commercial product from Hampton Creek’s new clean meat production platform “will likely be in the avian family,” director of cellular agriculture Eitan Fischer told FoodNavigator-USA as the company best known for its work on plant-based proteins unveiled ambitious plans to explore the animal variety… Read
• FOOD VISION USA 2017: Where is the plant-based movement heading (and will ‘clean’ meat give it a run for its money)? Growing interest in plant-based foods, ‘clean’ (aka cultured) meat, and grass-fed, humanely-raised meat and regenerative agriculture, stems from a desire to seek alternatives to industrialized animal production. But where will these emerging segments fit into the market, and are they a threat or an opportunity for traditional meat, egg and dairy companies?.. Read
• Animal-based protein tops consumer choice, but plant-based options are rising fast, Nielsen finds: When it comes to meeting consumers’ growing demand for protein, animal-based products continue to reign supreme in the US and Canada for now – but plant-based options are gaining traction and hold significant sales potential, according to the market research firm Nielsen. .. Read
• Ripple Foods seeks to disrupt plant-based yogurt category: ‘Let’s not mince words… some of these products are terrible’: Plant-based Greek-style yogurts from Ripple Foods – slated to hit the market by the end of this year – will have a higher protein content (12g/serving) and superior texture to brands currently on shelf, which have improved, but can still look “gelatinous” and “weird,” according to co-founder Dr Neil Renninger… Read
• IKEA backs Flying SpArk’s bet that fruit flies are the protein source of the future: Compared to crickets, grasshoppers and even meal worms, the fruit fly is minuscule, but according to the co-founders of Flying SpArk this tiniest of insects could prove to be a more bountiful, sustainable and efficient source of protein… Read
• Quorn moves into the refrigerated aisles with its fungi-based proteins: Meat-free brand Quorn – which has a big presence in the UK chilled food market, but has historically focused on the frozen segment in the US – has developed a new line of meat- and soy-free refrigerated sausages and chicken strips that will roll out across 1500 Kroger stores. .. Read
• TerraVia selects Corbion’s $20m stalking horse bid in auction: Algae-fueled company TerraVia has selected a $20m stalking horse bid from Dutch ingredients supplier Corbion in an auction for the bulk of its assets, according to documents filed with the bankruptcy court on Tuesday… Read

FoodNavigator-USA.com has a Special Edition on alternative proteins, meaning plant proteins that can substitute for the proteins in meat and other animal products.  These are not only useful for vegetarians, but cost less, and are much kinder to the environment.

As interest in them has grown, food companies have taken notice.  FoodNavigator says:

According to Lux Research , ‘alternative proteins’ such as soy, algae, pea, rice and canola, will account for up to a third of the protein market by 2054. But which ones have the most potential, and will new market entrants from duckweed and sacha inchi to cricket powder gain any real traction in the marketplace?

• Plant proteins in focus: Pea protein surging ahead, hemp on the cusp of greatness and sacha inchi still niche: With 40 institutional investors this week urging the world’s biggest food companies to shift their emphasis from animal- to plant-based protein, we spoke to a couple of key players in the protein powders category – AIDP and Axiom Foods – to get their take on current market dynamics… Read
• Plant-based proteins: Has soy fallen out of fashion?  Products plastering a ‘free from soy’ claim as a virtue on their packages are more ubiquitous today. What does this mean to soy-based protein products?.. Read
• Algae protein’s limited interaction with other ingredients a ‘key competitive advantage,’ says TerraVia: It’s still a new player in the burgeoning ‘alternative protein’ category, but algae could give rivals a run for their money as formulators learn about its unique properties that enable fortification in challenging applications from low pH beverages to dressings and crackers, claims TerraVia.  .. Read
• Green machines: Hinoman to open commercial facilities in Israel & the US, in 2017 as demand for plant-based protein rises: Hinoman – an Israeli start-up developing a novel source of vegetable protein that promises to give rivals a run for their money in the nutrition and sustainability stakes – aims to open its first commercial scale production facility in Israel in the first half of 2017 and a second facility in the US in the second half of the year… Read
• Duckweed: A promising new source of plant-based protein?  Researchers in Germany and India analyzed the nutritional value of duckweeds for human consumption, and found that “owing to the amino acid composition, the total protein of duckweeds qualifies as a high quality protein source for human nutrition.”.. Read
• Edible insects: Beyond the novelty factor: If the edible insects market is heating up, and big name retailers from Publix to Sprouts are now stocking cricket bars, snacks and protein powders, why is Whole Foods – which has reportedly temporarily dropped all bug-based products – apparently cooling down?  .. Read
• Our ‘invisible’ isolates can boldly go where no plant protein has been before, says Burcon: ADM will go into full commercial production of ‘invisible’ soy protein isolate CLARISOY this year in Decatur IL, using technology developed by Canadian partner Burcon Nutrascience, which has developed techniques to extract proteins from plants that enable them to be used in applications that were previously off limits… Read
• Don’t have a cow? Perfect Day animal-free milk bids for slice of multibillion-dollar global dairy market: The word ‘disruptive’ is bandied around with wearying regularity in relation to food startups these days, but if anyone warrants this moniker, it’s Perfect Day (formerly Muufri). Unlike the purveyors of nut- or legume-based ‘plant milks’, Ryan Pandya and Perumal Gandhi are actually making the real thing… dairy milk without any cows, and it’s coming to a store near you by late 2017… Read
• Protein-packed Brami beans go up against roasted chickpeas and edamame in the snack aisle: Move over roasted chickpeas and salted edamame, there is a new protein-packed, on-the-go snacking bean in town: Brami’s lupini beans… Read
• ProTings closes $1.2m financing round, changes name to Protes after spat with Original Tings: Brooklyn-based pea protein chip pioneer Proformance Foods has closed a $1.2m financing round led by a leading CPG company, and changed its brand name from ProTings to Protes following a trademark dispute with B&G Foods, which owns the Original Tings brand… Read
• Lightlife advances mission to “change the culture of meat” with launch of plant-based Smart Jerky: Vegetarians and vegans can now participate in the quickly growing jerky craze that continues to sweep the US thanks to the launch of Lightlife’s plant-based Smart Jerky. .. Read
• Pea protein: a trendy plant-protein alternative: While vegetarianism and flexitarism are spreading, a growing number of plant protein have appeared on the market, pea protein among them. It is not in itself a “new” protein, as it has been launched on the market 26 years ago by Cosucra. What makes pea protein so interesting?…   Click Here

I’ve written about fats and carbohydrates this week, so how about I end the week with Bakery & Snacks’ special edition (compendium of articles) on protein.  Bakery & Snacks is a newsletter aimed at this industry which, as you might expect, is highly interested in the marketing potential of protein.

Reminder: most Americans consume twice the protein needed, which makes protein a non-issue for most of us.  Bakery & Snacks says:

There’s little sign of us losing our appetite for protein – with around a third of global consumers seeking foods high in protein [Nielsen 2015].

But that’s not to say the market isn’t changing – and that those in the industry may need to change with it.

In this special edition newsletter, we look at topics including: the questions to be asked when using protein in a baked good or snack; whether consumers need more education around protein; how poultry and seafood are transforming meat snacking; and what the protein boom means for retail product mixes.

• Lessons to learn: Could protein snacks shoppers be better informed? High-protein food has made the leap from diet and fitness fad to mainstream food trend quicker than a CrossFitter can swing a Kettlebell… Read

• Right tool for the job: Protein fortification of baked goods and snacks: Experts from food and drink advisory service Campden BRI look at some of the key factors to consider when choosing the most suitable protein source for fortifying bakery and snacking products… Read

• Revealed: How protein boom is transforming snacks and cereal aisle: Analysis of supermarket listings has revealed how the protein boom is changing the mix of cereals and snacks on retailers’ shelves… Read

• Growing appetite: The proteins and flavors transforming meat snacks: Take a look at a supermarket or health food store meat snacks fixture and it’s clear the selection, flavor and formats are becoming more diverse… Read

• How to foster a buzzing edible insects industry: A Finnish project is to investigate the main hurdles and opportunities for the edible insect industry by linking up input from multidisciplinary players from relevant sectors. .. Read

• Sustainable protein from a global waste product: Enzymes key to rapeseed extraction: Using enzymes to extract protein from rapeseed press cakes in a sustainable and cost-effective way could transform 34 million tonnes of waste product into a valuable protein source, a Finnish scientist has said… Read