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August 29, 2026
UK bean and tofu sales jump as plant-based meat mimics fall

Vegan Brief August 29, 2026

UK beans overtake fake meat, mycotoxins found in every one tested

UK bean and tofu sales rose 7.3% while plant-based meat mimics fell 4.3% in early 2026, widening the price gap with meat

4 top stories 29 sources read 145 articles scanned 6 sides of vegan life
Lead story UK bean and tofu sales jump as plant-based meat mimics fall Read the story

The Quick List

UK bean and tofu sales rose 7.3% while plant-based meat mimics fell 4.3% in early 2026, widening the price gap with meat [96]
Every one of 212 plant-based meat alternatives and drinks tested in the UK contained a fungal toxin, though all stayed under EU safety limits [29]
A developer built a hog-waste storage pit next to an Iowa cemetery without telling the county, tied to a Seaboard Triumph Foods plant [128]
An EU-backed startup used €2.4 million to develop cell-culture supplements that already cut production costs for cultivated-meat maker SuperMeat [93]
Plant-based seafood startup Impact Food shut down after five years, citing how hard it is to shift consumer eating habits [97]
RFK Jr's new hospital pledge recommends plant-sourced proteins like legumes and soy, even as his own dietary guidelines still center red meat [137]
The movement today▲Food & Recipes▲Innovation▬Research & Nutrition▼Activism & AnimalsThe storylines →
UK bean and tofu sales jump as plant-based meat mimics fallPhoto: vegconomist
Innovation

UK bean and tofu sales jump as plant-based meat mimics fall

Read the story →
Also on the board3 more signals
Scientists find fungal toxins in all 212 plant-based meats and milks testedPhoto: sciencedaily
Research & Nutrition

Scientists find fungal toxins in all 212 plant-based meats and milks tested

 Developer built a hog-waste storage pit near an Iowa cemetery without warningPhoto: sentient
Activism & Animals

Developer built a hog-waste storage pit near an Iowa cemetery without warning

 EU-backed startup cuts cultivated meat costs with new muscle-growth supplementPhoto: green queen
Innovation

EU-backed startup cuts cultivated meat costs with new muscle-growth supplement

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

01▲Food & RecipesStory

UK bean and tofu sales jump as plant-based meat mimics fall

UK bean and tofu sales jump as plant-based meat mimics fall
Photo: vegconomist
“Beans are a triple win for health, sustainability and our wallets.”
Chloe Mackean, Food Business Transformation Manager, The Food Foundation · [96]
By the numbers
  • 7.3%rise in UK unit sales of beans, pulses, tofu and tempeh in the first half of 2026, while meat-mimic products fell 4.3% [96]
  • 71.5%jump in tempeh sales, the sharpest rise of any subcategory tracked [96]
  • 30.3%volume increase for butter beans, the sharpest gain within the bean category [96]
Fromvegconomist the vegan business magazine
02▬Research & NutritionStory

Scientists find fungal toxins in all 212 plant-based meats and milks tested

Scientists find fungal toxins in all 212 plant-based meats and milks tested
Photo: sciencedaily
“Mycotoxins occur naturally in foods and cannot be completely avoided. As consumers, we should not be frightened or deterred from enjoying a variety of products.”
Andrea Patriarca, Senior Lecturer in Mycology, Cranfield University · [29]
By the numbers
  • 212plant-based meat alternatives and beverages tested in the UK, and every one contained at least one of 19 mycotoxins [29]
  • 19mycotoxins screened for, with some products containing several at once [29]
FromNutrition Research News -- ScienceDaily
03▼Activism & AnimalsStory

Developer built a hog-waste storage pit near an Iowa cemetery without warning

Developer built a hog-waste storage pit near an Iowa cemetery without warning
Photo: sentient
“because we didn't want Seaboard mentioned.”
Brian Gallup, Hawthorn Land Holdings, the site's developer · [128]
“But we didn't know for sure ... and we had no good answers.”
Scott Koepsell, farmland owner near the site · [128]
By the numbers
  • 50 milesthe distance trucked-in slaughterhouse waste travels from Seaboard Triumph Foods' Sioux City plant to the storage site [128]
  • 110,000hogs slaughtered each week at the Seaboard Triumph Foods plant tied to the waste [128]
FromSentient
04▲InnovationStory

EU-backed startup cuts cultivated meat costs with new muscle-growth supplement

EU-backed startup cuts cultivated meat costs with new muscle-growth supplement
Photo: green queen
“Cultivated meat has three big challenges ahead of it: cost parity with farm-grown meat, scale-up, and quality and taste.”
Guy Nevo Michrowski, ProFuse project coordinator · [93]
By the numbers
  • €2.4M($2.8M) in European Innovation Council funding behind ProFuse Technology's two-year cultivated meat project [93]
  • €22B($25.7B) cultivated meat market ProFuse projects by 2050 [93]
FromGreen Queen

Worth Knowing

Food & Recipes

  • Cook Vegan Salt and Pepper Tofu with Singapore Noodles: crispy cornflour-coated tofu over aromatic stir-fried rice noodles, ready in under an hour [82]
  • The Vegan Joint, a Thai-inspired vegan restaurant chain, is closing all three of its Los Angeles locations after years of mounting debt [73]

Research & Nutrition

  • A meta-analysis found vegans have 23% lower total cancer risk and vegetarians 13% lower, with vegetarians showing the strongest protection against stomach and pancreatic cancer [11]
  • A whole-food plant-based diet cut LDL cholesterol 17.9% more than a standard American diet in a crossover trial of adults with a genetic high-cholesterol disorder [6]
  • A vegan Mediterranean diet lowered LDL cholesterol 21.2 mg/dL more than a traditional Mediterranean diet in women with fibromyalgia over six weeks [3]
  • Plant-based diets rich in healthful foods were linked to 21% lower dementia risk than the least healthful plant-based diets in a meta-analysis of over 200,000 people [19]
  • Researchers identified a yeast gene, YBR013C, that boosts secretion of animal-free egg-white protein made through precision fermentation [43]

Innovation

  • Beyond Meat supplied protein for two returning savory items at dessert chain Milk Bar, paired with egg and dairy cheese to reach flexitarian diners [100]
  • Plant-based seafood brand Oshi added Bristol Farms and two Michigan grocers, pushing its US retail footprint past 100 locations after a $3 million raise [99]
  • Netflix's "Big Chicken: A Fast Food Conspiracy" follows comedian Mo Gilligan through a 28-day fried-chicken diet to examine the fast-food chicken industry [98]

Activism & Animals

  • Bumblebee colonies exposed to a fungal brood disease increasingly sought out antimicrobial-laced nectar over five days, a possible sign of self-medication [118]

Law & Policy

  • President Trump pledged legal action letting farmers process their own meat outside federal inspection, a move food-safety attorney Bill Marler warns would gut the E. coli testing regime built since the 1990s [130]

One Good Thing

Three decades ago the Faaborg family raised 8,000 pigs a year on their Iowa farm. Today the barns grow oyster mushrooms, and the cesspool that once held hog waste is a freshwater pond visited by migratory birds. Mercy For Animals' Transfarmation Project helped fund the switch, and the family cut the ribbon on the new mushroom facility this month with chef Derek Sarno on hand to cook the harvest [68][115]. They're already planning mushroom tinctures and coffee, plus a bed and breakfast in an old grain silo, proof that leaving factory farming behind can look like more of a life, not less [68].

Vegan Lemon Curd

Recipe of the day · Full of Plants

Vegan Lemon Curd

You won't find any eggs or dairy butter in this vegan lemon curd! It's just as silky and buttery as the traditional version, with a deep, zesty flavor and just the right amount of…

25 min 16 servings 8 ingredients
See the ingredients
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 tbsp finely chopped lemon zest ((from 2 lemons))
  • 3 tbsp fresh lemon juice
  • 2 tbsp cornstarch
  • 1/8 tsp ground turmeric
  • 1/16 tsp kala namak salt ((Optional))
  • 1/2 cup plant-based cream ((I used 31% fat cream))
  • 1/4 cup vegan butter ((diced into 1-inch/2.5cm cubes))
Get the full recipe at Full of Plants →
Today in vegan history The Man Who Stopped Traffic for a Horse August 29, 1813 Henry Bergh was born into a shipbuilding fortune and spent it building the first American law with teeth against cruelty to animals, then walked the streets in a top hat to enforce it himself. Read the day in vegan history →