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August 25, 2026
Brazil bans foie gras production and sale nationwide, Lula signs law

Vegan Brief August 25, 2026

Brazil bans foie gras as Ontario ends dog and cat lab testing

Brazil's Lula signed a nationwide ban on producing and selling foie gras into law, joining India as the only countries to also outlaw imports.

4 top stories 28 sources read 148 articles scanned 6 sides of vegan life
Lead story Brazil bans foie gras production and sale nationwide, Lula signs law Read the story

The Quick List

Brazil's Lula signed a nationwide ban on producing and selling foie gras into law, joining India as the only countries to also outlaw imports. [120]
UPSIDE Foods walked away from its $50 million bid for Believer Meats' shuttered North Carolina plant, leaving the facility without a buyer as the alt-protein funding winter grinds on. [83]
Ontario banned invasive lab experiments on dogs and cats, a world first that takes effect January 1, 2027. [127]
Karolinska researchers found gut bacteria turn nitrate and iron from vegetables into molecules that lowered blood pressure and liver fat in mice. [34]
The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine sued HHS and USDA to withdraw the federal dietary guidelines, alleging eight of nine panel members had meat, dairy or low-carb industry ties. [68]
ProVeg found plant-based milk and dairy alternatives run up to 30% cheaper than the animal originals across nine Dutch supermarket chains. [74]
The movement today▲Activism & Animals▲Brazil foie gras ban▲Research & Nutrition▼Alt protein funding winterThe storylines →
Brazil bans foie gras production and sale nationwide, Lula signs lawPhoto: mercy for animals
Activism & Animals

Brazil bans foie gras production and sale nationwide, Lula signs law

Read the story →
Also on the board3 more signals
UPSIDE Foods drops $50 million bid for shuttered Believer Meats plantPhoto: AgFunderNews
Innovation

UPSIDE Foods drops $50 million bid for shuttered Believer Meats plant

 Ontario bans invasive dog and cat lab experiments, a world firstPhoto: animal justice
Law & Policy

Ontario bans invasive dog and cat lab experiments, a world first

 Gut bacteria turn vegetable nitrate and iron into heart-protecting molecules, study findsPhoto: sciencedaily
Research & Nutrition

Gut bacteria turn vegetable nitrate and iron into heart-protecting molecules, study finds

The Stories: the day’s biggest developments, in the sources’ own words

01▲Brazil foie gras banStory

Brazil bans foie gras production and sale nationwide, Lula signs law

Brazil bans foie gras production and sale nationwide, Lula signs law
Photo: mercy for animals
By the numbers
  • 1 million+messages sent to Brazilian lawmakers urging passage of the bill between March and April 2026 [120]
  • 17,000additional emails urged President Lula to sign it once the bill reached his desk [120]
  • 10 timesnormal size, how much force-feeding grows a duck or goose's liver to produce foie gras [120]
WatchThe ban takes legal effect 180 days after the law's official publication. [120]
The full timeline: Brazil foie gras ban →
FromMercy For Animals
02▼Alt protein funding winterStory

UPSIDE Foods drops $50 million bid for shuttered Believer Meats plant

UPSIDE Foods drops $50 million bid for shuttered Believer Meats plant
Photo: AgFunderNews
“Unfortunately, the conditions of the transaction were not met, so we have exercised our termination right. UPSIDE remains interested in the facility and will evaluate next steps once the receiver outlines a new process and timeline.”
UPSIDE Foods spokesperson · [83]
By the numbers
  • $50 millionUPSIDE Foods' now-terminated bid for Believer Meats' Wilson, North Carolina production facility [83]
  • $150 millionwhat it cost to build the facility Believer Meats left behind [83]
  • $400 milliontotal raised by Believer Meats, formerly Future Meat Technologies, before it ceased operations in December [83]
The full timeline: Alt protein funding winter →
FromAgFunderNews
03▲Activism & AnimalsStory

Ontario bans invasive dog and cat lab experiments, a world first

Ontario bans invasive dog and cat lab experiments, a world first
Photo: animal justice
By the numbers
  • January 1, 2027when Ontario's ban on invasive dog and cat lab experiments takes legal effect [127]
  • $6 and $2what experimenters can still pay shelters per dog and per cat under Ontario's continuing pound-seizure practice [127]
FromAnimal Justice
04▲Research & NutritionStory

Gut bacteria turn vegetable nitrate and iron into heart-protecting molecules, study finds

Gut bacteria turn vegetable nitrate and iron into heart-protecting molecules, study finds
Photo: sciencedaily
“Among other things, we observed lower blood pressure and improved vascular function, better blood sugar control and reduced fat accumulation in the liver. The results help to explain why a diet rich in vegetables, which contain both nitrate and iron, is linked to a lower risk of several diseases.”
Mattias Carlström, Professor of Cardiorenal Physiology, Karolinska Institutet · [34]
By the numbers
  • 0DNIC molecules detected in germ-free mice, versus present in tissue of conventional mice, showing gut bacteria are required to make them [34]
FromNutrition Research News -- ScienceDaily

Worth Knowing

Food & Recipes

  • Try this: Raspberry Vanilla Chia Jam, a four-ingredient spread of fresh raspberries, chia seeds, maple syrup and vanilla that sets in about 30 minutes. [79]
  • The US will waive tariffs on 300,000 metric tons of imported ground beef for 90 days as the domestic cattle herd hits its smallest size since the 1950s, a move the National Cattlemen's Beef Association calls a mistake. [73]

Innovation

  • ADM won $2.23 million in Iowa tax credits toward a $55.5 million conversion of its Clinton plant into a precision-fermentation hub for Every Co.'s egg protein, creating 53 jobs. [101]
  • Canadian wellness brand Organic Traditions raised $10.5 million to expand its fiber-focused supplement line as GLP-1 users report spending 22% more on fiber supplements. [96]
  • Swiss adults eat meat at 850% of the level recommended under the EAT-Lancet Planetary Health Diet, while legume intake sits at just 4% of target. [100]
  • The Cultured Meat Safety Initiative opened an industry survey on cultivated-meat scaffold materials, aiming to build the field's first harmonized safety-classification system by September 4. [102]

Research & Nutrition

  • A crossover feeding trial found a whole-food, plant-based diet cut LDL cholesterol 17.9% compared with a standard American diet in adults with familial hypercholesterolemia. [6]
  • A new meta-analysis found vegans have 23% lower total cancer risk than non-vegetarians, though the evidence is still rated limited-suggestive. [11]
  • Plant-based diets rich in healthy foods were tied to lower dementia risk in a new meta-analysis, but diets heavy in refined plant foods raised it instead. [16]

Wins & Culture

  • Venus Williams, plant-based for around 15 years, received a wildcard into the US Open at 46, crediting the diet with easing her autoimmune Sjögren's Syndrome symptoms. [142]
  • Christie Brinkley said she has been fully vegan for about two years, calling her way of eating an "organic garden rainbow diet." [141]

One Good Thing

Vegan ultrarunner Laura Briggs spent seven days alone on Spain's Camino Primitivo, running 300 km on a diet of squirreled-away bread crusts, roadside oranges and whatever an albergue kitchen would put in a bowl. Some nights dinner never came. Other nights, a stranger in Pola de Allande sent her to bed with lentil soup, seasoned rice and a chocolate soya pudding she still calls her favorite meal of the trip. She finished in Santiago de Compostela having proven, again, that a plant-based diet carries a person exactly as far as they're willing to run. [82]

This week in vegan history The US passes its first animal welfare law 1966 President Johnson signed the Laboratory Animal Welfare Act, pushed along by public outrage over pets stolen and sold to research labs. It set minimum standards for lab animals and their dealers, and left animals raised for food out entirely. Twenty-five centuries of the idea →