JBS, the world's largest meatpacker, scrapped its 2040 net-zero pledge and now tracks only the 3% of its emissions it directly controls [99].
02
Carbon-to-fat startup Savor signed a two-year deal with fats giant AAK, which also took an equity stake, to build dairy-free fats from captured CO2 instead of cows [97].
03
A new UK coalition report tallied more than 10,000 seabirds and roughly 1,000 whales and dolphins killed yearly as bycatch in commercial fishing gear [145].
04
Stanford's AI tool BurgerAI designed a mushroom burger that beat a Big Mac in taste tests with a 90%-plus smaller environmental footprint [144].
05
A new meta-analysis found vegetarians face 13% lower total cancer risk and vegans 23% lower, with vegans also cutting breast cancer risk by a fifth [8].
06
Israeli whole-cut meat alternative maker Chunk Foods expects to double sales and turn profitable next year, defying the category's broader slump [102].
The Stories: the day’s biggest developments, in the sources’ own words
01▼Law & PolicyStory
JBS scraps its 2040 net-zero pledge, drops all supply-chain climate targets
Wikimedia Commons / Cattle
"The further we got into execution, the clearer it became that a Net Zero goal spanning hundreds of thousands of independent agricultural producers across tens of millions of hectares in dozens of countries — each with different practices, different baselines, and no standardized measurement infrastructure — is an immense challenge," said Jason Weller, JBS's global chief sustainability officer [99].
By the numbers
184 millionmetric tons of CO2-equivalent scope 3 emissions JBS generated last year, the pollution it no longer commits to cutting [99].
3%is the share of JBS's total carbon footprint covered by the direct emissions it still targets, down from a pledge that once covered its entire supply chain [99].
AAK invests in Savor's carbon-made fat for dairy alternatives, bakery
Photo: food dive
"Food and CPG manufacturers are under real pressure on two fronts simultaneously: supply chain stability and the need to reduce the environmental footprint of key ingredients," said Chiara Cecchini, senior vice president of commercialization at Savor [97].
By the numbers
2 yearsis the length of the development agreement Savor signed with AAK to build fats for bakery and dairy-alternative products [97].
Company claim"The new fats could require a thousand times less land use than their conventional counterparts, with up to 98% lower carbon emissions." (Savor) [97]. The figure comes from the companies' own announcement, not an independent life-cycle assessment in today's pool.
UK bycatch report tallies over 10,000 seabirds, 1,000 whales and dolphins killed yearly
Photo: plant based news
"Thousands of animals die every year in UK waters because of avoidable fishing deaths. From razorbills and dolphins to endangered salmon and sharks, the scale of destruction exposed in this report is shocking, with animals dying in awful and unnecessary ways," said Richard Benwell, chief executive of Wildlife and Countryside Link [145].
By the numbers
10,000+seabirds killed annually as bycatch in UK waters by commercial fishing vessels [145].
1,000whales, dolphins and other cetaceans, plus 500 seals and 120 tonnes of protected sharks and rays, killed the same way each year [145].
Early"more than 10,000 seabirds, 1,000 whales, dolphins, and other cetaceans, 1,000 endangered Atlantic salmon, 500 seals, and 120 tonnes of protected sharks and rays are accidentally killed every year within UK waters by commercial fishing vessels." (Wildlife and Countryside Link) [145]. The coalition's own analysts call this a floor, built from existing records they say undercount the true toll.
WatchWildlife and Countryside Link is pressing the UK government to mandate remote electronic monitoring on all fishing vessels; no compliance deadline has been set [145].
FromPlant Based News
04▲InnovationStory
Stanford's AI-designed veggie burger beats a Big Mac on taste and footprint
Photo: plant based news
"AI did not just generate plausible burger recipes – it created burgers that real people enjoy," said Ellen Kuhl, the Stanford engineering professor who led the research [144].
By the numbers
90%+lower environmental impact score for BurgerAI's plant-based mushroom burger compared with a McDonald's Big Mac [144].
Nearly 200%higher Healthy Eating Index score for a bean-based veggie burger than a Big Mac, with an 83% smaller footprint [144].
Early"a plant-based mushroom burger with an environmental impact score more than 90 percent lower than a McDonald's Big Mac" (Stanford researchers, published in npj Science of Food) [144]. Peer-reviewed, but built from a model trained on 2,216 existing recipes and validated with a small taste-test panel rather than a market trial.
WatchA second paper detailing BurgerAI's underlying mathematical framework is expected later this year [144].
FromPlant Based News
Worth Knowing
Food & Recipes
Toss chickpeas, cucumber and fresh herbs into this Lemon Orzo Pasta Salad, a 15-minute lemony side dish for the next picnic or potluck [79].
Protein-bar maker No Cow and flax-milk brand Good Karma Foods were sold to private equity firm Trek One Capital [76].
Innovation
Dutch-Belgian precision fermentation startup Those Vegan Cowboys launched Margaret's Finest, inviting food companies to help pick which animal-free casein proteins it develops next [104].
The FDA proposed requiring companies to notify it before selling new "generally recognized as safe" food ingredients, closing a loophole self-certification opened in 1958 [105].
Italian supermarket chain Cadoro added AltroFood's shelf-stable, dehydrated meat and egg alternative mixes to its shelves across three regions [109].
UK oat drink brand Oato launched a chilled matcha latte, sold only through doorstep milk-round delivery service The Modern Milkman [107].
Thai plant-based brand Swees launched a soy yogurt range made with organic Chiang Mai soybeans, its first move beyond vegan cheese [108].
Research & Nutrition
Meatly is scaling up cultivated meat production for the pet food market [74].
A four-month, placebo-controlled trial found a daily multinutrient supplement significantly raised vitamin B12 biomarkers in healthy vegans [18].
A meta-analysis of nearly 49,000 children found vegan and vegetarian kids run leaner than omnivores but face higher odds of iron deficiency, anemia and B12 deficiency [19].
A pooled analysis of five cohort studies linked healthful plant-based diets to a 21% lower dementia risk, and unhealthful ones to a 24% higher risk [16].
A meta-analysis of chronic kidney disease patients found plant-based diets cut systolic blood pressure by nearly 7 points [20].
A Columbia University trial found adults who lost just 80 minutes of sleep nightly for six weeks gained about a pound and grew more sedentary [40].
A USC study found young non-smokers eating more fruits, vegetables and whole grains had higher lung cancer rates; researchers now suspect pesticide residue, not the food itself, and call the finding preliminary [41].
One Good Thing
Joanne Lee Molinaro, the cook behind The Korean Vegan, used to hate kimbap as a kid. She says it once signaled "the otherness of being Korean," proof, she felt, that her family never learned American cooking. Now she makes it constantly, swapping in vegan sausage or tofu for the meat, and by her own account, "my family thinks I make the best kimbap ever. Vegan or not" [91]. A small dish, but a real one: she kept the memory and only had to let go of the animal.
Bring this easy Lemon Orzo Pasta Salad to your next picnic or potluck! It’s a light and zesty side dish that tosses cooked orzo, veggies, chickpeas, and fresh herbs in a…
30 min8 servings12 ingredients
See the ingredients
1 1/2 cups dry orzo pasta
15- ounce can chickpeas (drained and rinsed)
1 english cucumber (diced)
1/2 small red onion (thinly sliced)
2 cups loosely packed baby spinach (chopped)
1 pint cherry tomatoes (halved)
1/2 cup fresh basil or mint leaves (chopped finely)
optional: 1/2 cup vegan feta or 1 medium avocado (diced)
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