Meat, fish and savoury ingredients

Climate-friendly seafood: Opportunities identified to improve GHG footprint in aquaculture

27-Jan-2022 By Flora Southey

A team of international researchers says there is potential for climate-friendly design and operation to improve the greenhouse gas footprint of seaweed, bivalve, and fed finfish mariculture.

New rapid tests will detect adulteration of meat products

20-Jan-2022 By Oliver Morrison

Russian scientists claim to have discovered the fastest method for detecting chicken and pork additives in meat products.

Israel’s biggest food maker enters JV to put ‘affordable cultured food on the table’

18-Jan-2022 By Flora Southey

Food heavyweight Tnuva has partnered with cell production firm Pluristem to bring cultured food, starting with a raw meat product, to the masses.

How does Mosa Meat cultivate beef without animal serum? Researchers tell all

17-Jan-2022 By Flora Southey

Dutch start-up Mosa Meat has revealed how it achieves muscle differentiation without the use of foetal bovine serum (FBS) in the interest of ‘openness’ and ‘transparency’.

Increased focus on nutrition among shoppers offer golden opportunity for food brands, claims Birds Eye

13-Jan-2022 By Oliver Morrison

A new report from Birds Eye outlines the efforts it has made to improve the nutritional health credentials of its products.

Red Tractor digs into consumer perceptions of animal welfare: ‘The majority of shoppers don’t want to know too much’

10-Jan-2022 By Flora Southey

UK food label scheme Red Tractor is investigating just how concerned consumers are about animal welfare, and whether current perceptions of production methods match reality.

Limpet farming: an unlikely new source of sustainable protein?

24-Dec-2021 By Oliver Morrison

They don’t ‘win any prizes for their gastronomic, economic or aesthetic value’. But limpets have acquired an undeserved reputation as ‘famine food’, according to research that aims to re-write their global significance in coastal heritage and food culture.

Red and processed meat trade linked to diet-related NCDs in Europe

23-Dec-2021 By Flora Southey

Researchers say incidence of disease-specific NCDs in some northern and eastern European countries have ‘rapidly increased’ due to red and processed meat trade.

JBS blames complex supply chains as retailers drop beef over deforestation

22-Dec-2021 By Oliver Morrison

Supermarket chains in the UK, Belgium, France and the Netherlands have announced they are restricting Brazilian beef products tied to Brazil’s JBS, the world’s largest beef company and second-largest food company.

What’s the Spanish meat industry’s beef with Nutri-Score?

21-Dec-2021 By Flora Southey

From slaughterhouses to cutting plants and meat processors, Spain’s meat industry is ‘totally against’ front-of-pack nutritional labelling scheme Nutri-Score. FoodNavigator hears why.

JBS spots global growth opportunities in Italian premium deli sector

21-Dec-2021 By Oliver Morrison

The Brazilian meat giant is shifting to bresaola, Parma Ham and prosciutto after buying Italian brands King’s and Principe.

WATCH: What's it like to cook with cultivated meat?

17-Dec-2021 By Flora Southey

FoodNavigator travels to Paris to take its first bite of a cell-based chicken ingredient, asking the chef: ‘What’s it like to cook with cultivated meat?’

Danes prefer farmed salmon over wild-caught, blind tasting reveals

10-Dec-2021 By Flora Southey

A blind taste test conducted in Denmark has revealed a local preference for farmed salmon over its wild-caught counterpart. At least, until the blindfold is lifted…

ORIVO and Imprint Analytics collaborate on seafood authenticity with multi-isotope fingerprinting tech

09-Dec-2021 By Katy Askew

Food testing and authentication companies ORIVO and Imprint Analytics are teaming up to provide transparency to the seafood market through ‘highly advanced chemical fingerprinting analysis’.

Using algae to make cell-based seabass fillets: ‘We anticipate that cultured fish can have increased health benefits’

09-Dec-2021 By Oliver Morrison

A team of Portuguese scientists plan to use algae to develop new techniques for cultivating fish fillets from seabass cells.

Making cultivated meat ‘bleed’ with red algae: ‘Even cell-based meat looks pale; it will need our solution’

08-Dec-2021 By Flora Southey

New red microalgae discovered by Israeli start-up Yemoja adds ‘bloody’ juiciness to plant-based burgers and steaks, as well as cultivated meat products.

Shoppers eager to see accurate food labels to indicate animal welfare standards, poll claims

06-Dec-2021 By Oliver Morrison

More than two thirds of the UK public want to see more information on their meat and dairy products about how the animals were reared, according to a poll commissioned by the charity Compassion in World Farming. But meat association BMPA says these labels...

'The novelty is waning': Can moving 'beyond mimicking' help avoid plant-based fatigue?

03-Dec-2021 By Oliver Morrison

Most consumers are not interested in mimicking, ingredients supplier IFF says. People instead want more novel experiences from the meat alternatives category.

Cost-efficient scaffolding tech developed for cultivated meat at scale

01-Dec-2021 By Flora Southey

Estonian start-up Gelatex says affordable and scalable cell-cultured meat could ‘soon turn into reality’ thanks to its innovative scaffolding technology.

‘Health-giving’ fish waste offers food formulators cost and sustainability benefits

30-Nov-2021 By Oliver Morrison

Fish farming by-products have the potential to increase the sustainability of aquaculture, and contribute to sectors such as food ingredients, diet supplements, animal feed and food packaging, according to a new study.

‘There’s no second chance to make a first impression': Givaudan on how to enable alt meat’s ‘final push’ into the mainstream

22-Nov-2021 By Oliver Morrison

Meat alternatives are moving in the right direction on taste, texture and affordability, according to the flavour and fragrance giant. But manufacturers still need to bridge a gap to everyday consumers in order to reap the rewards of the mass market,...

New EU rules for deforestation-free products: Companies will be ‘monitored and held accountable’

19-Nov-2021 By Katy Askew

The European Parliament has said companies supplying products that risk contributing to deforestation will be ‘monitored and held accountable’ through new due diligence regulations. But farming groups have raised concerns that the new regulation might...

From 'Fitbits for cows' to DNA testing and certification: How is the meat sector innovating to improve animal welfare?

15-Nov-2021 By Flora Southey

In the UK, beef cattle are wearing ‘Fitbits for cows’, in Germany, an independent certification scheme is improving animal welfare for pork and poultry, and in Bulgaria, Big Data is serving to differentiate local products from imported competition. FoodNavigator...

From the farmer’s mouth: Animal welfare demands cause for concern on the land

29-Oct-2021 By Flora Southey

As famers work to improve animal health and welfare, they are faced with a number of key challenges, from communication to cost, and transparency, explains Copa-Copega’s Miguel Angel Higuera.

Unlocking cultivated meat sustainability with renewables: ‘As long as we have cows, they’ll emit GHG. The same is not true for energy’

28-Oct-2021 By Flora Southey

Whether cultivated or conventional meat production is more sustainable has been hotly debated in recent years. Yet as technologies in green energy develop, industry experts predict there will be ‘no contest’.

COP26’s ‘local and sustainable’ menu sparks farmed salmon debate

28-Oct-2021 By Oliver Morrison

The UN’s climate change conference that will soon kick off in Scotland has unveiled a ‘climate friendly’ menu with a focus on locally sourced dishes produced using environmentally friendly practices.

Cultivated, cultured, or other? Making alt meat terminology appealing and transparent

27-Oct-2021 By Flora Southey

From in vitro to synthetic, lab-grown, cell-based, cultivated and cultured, slaughter-free meat grown from animal cells has been called a myriad of names in its relatively short lifespan. But which term is most appealing, and transparent, to consumers?...

Meat is dead, long live meat: Can beef and dairy contribute to a climate fix?

26-Oct-2021 By Oliver Morrison

Agricultural production needs a fundamental re-think, but beef and dairy can be the answer to the world’s challenges rather than the demons.

Is the Italian market ready for meal kits?

15-Oct-2021 By Oliver Morrison

HelloFresh has announced a move into Italy -- famous for its fierce tradition of gastronomic heritage. But the meal-kit giant says the country ‘offers great conditions to expand’.

Octopus farming: Sustainability solution or recipe for disaster?

12-Oct-2021 By Oliver Morrison

Plans to develop octopus farming in Europe are under attack from a new report which claims this sea animal’s exceptional characteristics make it uniquely unsuitable for intensive farming.

Do consumers have an appetite for change? IGD shines spotlight on healthy and sustainable diets

08-Oct-2021 By Flora Southey

With just 1% of the population following a diet aligned with government recommendations, IGD has sought to determine whether UK consumers have an appetite for change.

Belgium’s first national animal welfare standard developed for pork

07-Oct-2021 By Flora Southey

Belpork, owner of the BePork quality scheme, has developed an animal welfare standard for the Belgian pork sector. “It is the first time that a national animal welfare standard has been launched in our country,” Belpork coordinator Liesbet Pluym tells...

Alt protein start-up develops whole-cut chicken and seafood analogues for Eastern European market

04-Oct-2021 By Flora Southey

Estonian start-up Meet Future is making alt chicken and seafood whole-cuts with short ingredient lists. Founder Triin Remmelgas tells FoodNavigator how its mycoprotein-based products meet demand for ‘less processed’ and ‘healthier’ products.

Japanese knotweed may lower cancer risk of processed meat, find researchers

24-Sep-2021 By Flora Southey

Replacing carcinogenic compound nitrite in processed meat with an extract taken from Japanese knotweed could reduce cancer risk, according to an EU co-funded research project.

Meet the B2B start-up innovating plant-based whole cuts and cultivated hybrids

16-Sep-2021 By Flora Southey

A new platform for whole-cut texturization to produce plant-based meat alternatives and cell-based hybrids has been developed by Israeli firm Alfred’s FoodTech, Ltd.

UK announces £24 million for ‘cutting-edge’ science and fisheries

15-Sep-2021 By Oliver Morrison

Government announces first investment from £100 million UK Seafood Fund to boost innovation in the fishing industry.

Nomad and BlueNalu tie-up scouts cell-based seafood sales in Europe: ‘We have a responsibility to protect fish stocks for generations to come’

15-Sep-2021 By Flora Southey

Europe’s largest frozen food company has teamed up with cultivated seafood start-up BlueNalu to explore the introduction of cell-based seafood products to Europe. Nomad will bring a ‘wealth of expertise in fish and seafood’ to the partnership, CEO Stéfan...

It’s official: plant-based diets make us gassier… so what’s worse for the planet – cow or human farts?

10-Sep-2021 By Oliver Morrison

We all know plant-based foods increase our wind. But with the take up of this kind of diet seen as one of the best ways for individuals to combat climate change, could these gasses potentially bode badly for the atmosphere?

Millennial Salmon Project addresses the ‘critical need’ to accelerate and scale innovation in aquaculture

08-Sep-2021 By Katy Askew

The aquaculture sector is growing quickly – but concern is mounting that innovation in sustainable practices is failing to keep pace. The Millennial Salon Project brings together partners from across the value chain to answer this challenge in farmed...

‘Alternative proteins are moving in all directions… it’s becoming like a jungle out there’: Givaudan discusses its new Protein Hub launch

07-Sep-2021 By Oliver Morrison

The Swiss company’s new Protein Hub aims to provide experts and technology to accelerate alternative protein development, Thomas Ullram, Innovation Director Savoury Europe at Givaudan Taste & Wellbeing Division, tells FoodNavigator.

Fake it till you make it? Meat alternatives shown to promote ‘positive changes’ in gut microbiome in latest ‘exciting’ study

06-Sep-2021 By Oliver Morrison

Who said meat imitations can’t be healthy? New research rejects the notion fake meats should be perceived as low-quality, ultra-processed foods.

Plant-based market ‘could be nearing saturation point’

02-Sep-2021 By Oliver Morrison

Despite its growing popularity, the plant-based sector is not guaranteed to stay on a growth trajectory, according to a report.

Are saturated fats from meat and dairy equally bad for the heart?

26-Aug-2021 By Flora Southey

How do saturated fats from different dietary sources – notably meat and dairy – impact risk of cardiovascular diseases, ischaemic heart disease, and stroke?

Cell-based seafood: Scaffolding tech in focus to achieve ‘flaky’ cultivated fish

25-Aug-2021 By Flora Southey

Developments in scaffolding technology will help advance solutions for sustainable seafood, according to the Good Food Institute.

Opportunities for ‘climate-smart fisheries’ identified

23-Aug-2021 By Oliver Morrison

Climate-smart fisheries can change the fate of our oceans and thrive amid heightened consumer interest in sustainable seafood, according to a new report from WWF, Marine Conservation Society and RSPB.

How can pharma help cultivated meat ‘unlock the biggest bottleneck’ in the industry?

19-Aug-2021 By Flora Southey

From bioreactors to flu vaccines and cell proliferation, the pharmaceutical industry has experience in avian cell production that can help the cultivated meat industry scale, according to Gourmey's CSO Antoine Davydoff.

Why don’t consumers swap out meat for meat substitutes?

18-Aug-2021 By Flora Southey

Fresh research in Sweden is exploring why, when pressure is building to reduce environmental impact by reducing meat consumption, some consumers are reluctant to do so.

Cell-based disruption: How many factories, and at what capacity, are required to supply 10% of the meat market?

13-Aug-2021 By Flora Southey

If the cultivated meat industry were to set the ambitious target of supplying 10% of the global meat market, how much product would be required? How many factories, containing how many bioreactors, would need to be built? And where?

What can food companies learn about sustainability from Indigenous Peoples’ food systems?

13-Aug-2021 By Oliver Morrison

Quite a lot, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

New biological pathway identified to improve dairy cattle health and productivity

13-Aug-2021 By Oliver Morrison

An ag-tech company says it has discovered a new genomic pathway -- a series of interactions among molecules in a cell that leads to a certain product or a change in a cell and which can trigger the assembly of new molecules, such as a fat or protein –...