Hungary bans circus animals, alt-protein makers merge and return
Hungary banned wild animals from circuses under a new decree covering 25 species, joining 24 of the EU's 27 member states that already restrict the practice.
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Hungary banned wild animals from circuses under a new decree covering 25 species, joining 24 of the EU's 27 member states that already restrict the practice [81].
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Israeli cultivated-protein firm Ever After Foods bought Belgian seafood-cell startup Fishway and banked $2 million more, betting pet food opens the market first [104].
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Precision-fermentation pioneer Perfect Day emerged from two years of self-described "incognito mode" with an Indian factory built to start shipping animal-free whey in early 2027 [100].
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A new Cambridge scoring system weighing nutrition, cost and environmental impact ranked tofu the best of 20 protein sources tested, ahead of every animal food on the list [79].
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Quorn's parent posted a 2.2% UK revenue gain in a shrinking meat-alternative market, its first real recovery in years [99].
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Vegan UFC welterweight contender Ian Machado Garry said going plant-based five years ago ended the illnesses that had wrecked his weight cuts [72].
25animal groups, including elephants, primates, big cats, bears and giraffes, can no longer be acquired, bred or forced to perform under Hungary's new decree [81]
24 of 27EU member states now maintain national restrictions on circus animal acts, according to Eurogroup for Animals [81]
WatchHungary's ban takes legal effect January 1, 2027, when wild circus animals must be phased out for good [81]
$2 millionin fresh strategic investment lands alongside the acquisition, funding continued platform work and commercialization [104]
69%of Ever After Foods is held by parent company Pluri, which is also expanding into cultivated pet food as the platform's first commercial target [104]
2,000 tonnesof animal-free whey production is expected in the Gujarat, India plant's first 12 months, against a nameplate capacity of roughly 2,500 tonnes [100]
$66 millionwas raised in 2024 by selling half its stake in Indian manufacturer Sterling Biotech to now-partner Zydus Lifesciences [100]
WatchPerfect Day targets Q1 2027 for its first commercial ProFerm deliveries out of the Gujarat facility [100]
FromGreen Queen
04▲Research & NutritionStory
Cambridge scoring system ranks tofu the best protein for people and planet
Photo: vegan food
By the numbers
0.61kgof CO2-equivalent emissions per 100g of tofu protein, versus 64.19kg for beef, more than 100 times as much [79]
2.16square metres of land per 100g of tofu protein, versus 211.38 square metres for beef [79]
36combined People and Planet score for tofu, the highest of 20 foods tested, versus 13 for cheddar, the lowest [79]
FromVegan Food & Living
Worth Knowing
Wins & Culture
Cook tonight: Wil Yeung's pan-fried cheung fun with smoked tofu and smoky chili-oil fried rice, two restaurant-style Chinese vegan dishes built on aromatics and patient browning, not fancy technique [145].
The Sheep Detectives, a new Hugh Jackman film centering sheep as individuals, is anchoring the Vegetarian Society's Love Lambs Week, September 1-7 [144].
Research & Nutrition
A meta-analysis of prospective studies found vegetarians had 13% lower total cancer risk and vegans 23% lower risk than non-vegetarians [11].
A crossover feeding trial found a whole-food plant-based diet cut LDL cholesterol 17.9% in adults with familial hypercholesterolemia compared with a standard American diet [6].
A dose-response meta-analysis linked healthful plant-based diets to a 26% lower risk of cognitive impairment and dementia, while unhealthful plant-based diets raised the risk [16].
Innovation
The FDA recalled 94 cases of Frankie's Organic vegan cheese puffs after two Canadian allergic-reaction complaints traced to undeclared milk [98].
Swedish startup Millow raised €2 million to scale its clean-label mycelium-and-oat meat, targeting over 430 tonnes a year for Nordic restaurants and public kitchens [84].
Canadian foodtech funding concentrated almost entirely in industrial and ingredient technology in early 2026, with consumer-facing alt-protein brands drawing under 2% of $62.7 million tracked [103].
Gene-editing firm Pairwise says CRISPR licensing has seen a "dramatic uptick," now with 25 licensees spanning crops, insects and livestock [83].
World Plant Milk Day returns August 22 with a Heritage Campaign mapping 5,000 years of plant-based milk traditions across six continents [98].
Tufts University opened a $4.6 million innovation hub for novel foods, built partly on a plant-cell repository salvaged from defunct cultivated-meat startup SciFi Foods [101].
Nosh.bio's blended koji-protein beef mince and burgers landed at Saltz, a global marketplace for chefs, pushing mycelium blends into foodservice kitchens [98].
Activism & Animals
The New York State Fair paused its decades-old live cow-birth exhibit after PETA pressure; the group is pushing to make the pause permanent [119].
One Good Thing
Al Biondi crossed a full triathlon finish line this week with his legs shaking and reached into his gear bag for a stack of vegan protein bars instead of a lawn chair. His cut-off Animal Outlook shirt had already caught eyes on the course, and at the finish, surrounded by strangers who'd just given everything their bodies had, people started asking him about it. Sunburned and still catching his breath, he answered every question and kept handing out bars [106].
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