Canada's Last Belugas Freed, Cultivated Meat Grows Its Own Vessels
Canada finished exporting Marineland's belugas, but a second whale, Rain, died at Chicago's Shedd Aquarium days after arriving, echoing Peekachu's death two weeks earlier.
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Canada finished exporting Marineland's belugas, but a second whale, Rain, died at Chicago's Shedd Aquarium days after arriving, echoing Peekachu's death two weeks earlier [136].
02
EMBL Barcelona scientists grew self-organizing muscle, nerve and blood-vessel tissue from a single stem cell source in 15 days, a possible shortcut past cultivated meat's assembly problem [110].
03
A meta-analysis of prospective studies found vegan diets linked to 23% lower total cancer risk and vegetarian diets to 13% lower risk than non-vegetarian diets [35].
04
Steakholder Foods put its Perfecta plant-based steak, chicken and seafood range on US shelves for the first time, through a distribution deal covering the Northeast [107].
05
Christie Brinkley told Instagram followers she has been vegan for two years, after decades as a vegetarian [76].
06
A 12-week RCT found a self-selected vegan diet cut protein intake and shrank thigh muscle volume in over-65s, an effect resistance training partly offset [24].
Second Marineland Beluga Dies at Shedd Aquarium After Rushed Export
Photo: animal justice
A second Marineland beluga died at Chicago's Shedd Aquarium this week, days after Canada finished moving all of the shuttered zoo's belugas and dolphins out within a matter of weeks [136]. Rain, who arrived from Marineland in mid-August, died alongside a whale already living at the aquarium; her death follows that of Peekachu, a 23-year-old Marineland beluga who died from severe dehydration less than two weeks after the same move [136]. The federal export permits carried no requirement barring the animals from being bred at their new homes, a departure from Canada's past practice with other Marineland transfers [136].
“This fast-tracked mass export was an epic failure.”
Kaitlyn Mitchell, director of legal advocacy, Animal Justice · [136]
By the numbers
30belugas moved out of Marineland within weeks, a timeline Animal Justice says had more to do with a pending real estate deal than the whales' welfare [136]
23years old, Peekachu's age when she died from severe dehydration at Shedd Aquarium less than two weeks after leaving Marineland [136]
WatchWhether Shedd Aquarium, SeaWorld, Georgia Aquarium and Oceanogràfic València answer Animal Justice's request to publicly commit to never breeding the transferred belugas [136]
Barcelona Lab Grows Self-Organizing Cultivated Beef Tissue in 15 Days
Photo: vegconomist
Researchers at EMBL Barcelona grew bovine muscle fibres, blood vessels and neurons from a single population of embryonic stem cells, letting the cells self-organize into tissue instead of growing and assembling each cell type by hand, in work published in Nature Communications [110]. The 15-day, serum-free protocol sidesteps the usual reliance on adult muscle biopsies, which stop dividing and can only become a narrow range of cell types [110]. The resulting tissue aggregates measured about 0.6 millimeters across, and the team says much larger, better-vascularized tissue is still needed before anything resembles a steak [110].
“One of the biggest challenges in cultivated meat is reproducing the complexity of real tissue. Instead of growing each cell type separately and assembling them afterwards, we showed that embryonic stem cells can develop together and self-organise, mimicking real tissue development.”
Marina Sanaki-Matsumiya, former postdoctoral fellow, EMBL Barcelona's Ebisuya Group · [110]
By the numbers
15 daysthe serum-free protocol takes to grow muscle, blood-vessel and nerve tissue together from one starting cell source [110]
€0.39 to €0.99the researchers' estimated cost of a single small tissue aggregate, driven mainly by growth factors and reagents [110]
Fromvegconomist the vegan business magazine
03▲Research & NutritionStory
Meta-Analysis Finds Vegan and Vegetarian Diets Cut Cancer Risk
Wikimedia Commons / Vegetable
A systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective studies found vegetarian diets linked to 13% lower total cancer incidence than non-vegetarian diets, and vegan diets linked to a 23% lower total cancer risk [35]. The World Cancer Research Fund's criteria rated the evidence for vegetarian diets and total, colorectal, colon and breast cancer as "probable," its strongest tier short of proven causality [35]. The researchers found body mass index explained only a moderate part of the associations and said further studies are needed on long-term adherence and less-studied cancer sites [35].
By the numbers
0.77relative risk of total cancer for vegans versus non-vegetarians, a 23% lower risk (95% CI: 0.70-0.85) [35]
0.87relative risk of total cancer for vegetarians versus non-vegetarians, a 13% lower risk (95% CI: 0.84-0.91) [35]
0.80relative risk of breast cancer for vegans versus non-vegetarians, at the edge of statistical significance (95% CI: 0.64-1.00) [35]
FromPubMed
04▲InnovationStory
Steakholder Foods Launches Plant-Based Perfecta Range on US Shelves
Photo: vegconomist
Steakholder Foods began selling its Perfecta plant-based range in US stores for the first time, launching five products, marbled steak, filet mignon, chicken breast, salmon patties and white fish patties, through a distribution deal with KeHE Distributors covering the Northeastern United States [107]. The company uses its own food-production technology to build fibrous, whole-cut textures and marbling-like fat structures rather than the ground-and-formed approach most plant-based meat relies on [107]. Steakholder has not named the retailers, locations or prices carrying the range and says further US regions will follow as production and distribution capacity grows [107].
“We believe the plant-based category is ready for a new generation of products that deliver on taste and eating experience without compromise.”
5products in the initial Perfecta lineup: marbled steak, filet mignon, chicken breast, salmon patties and white fish patties [107]
WatchSteakholder says further US regions will follow the Northeast launch, though it hasn't given a timetable [107]
Fromvegconomist the vegan business magazine
Worth Knowing
Food & Recipes
Try it tonight: jackfruit crab cakes with a tangy vegan remoulade, crisped in a skillet and ready in under 30 minutes [79].
A vegan couple's Edinburgh wedding at Ghillie Dhu featured a fully plant-based menu, including vegan haggis dumplings and a whisky cream sauce [75].
Nineteen years after her vegan carrot cake won over VegNews, Cafe Indigo founder Patti Dann finally shared the recipe, coconut, pineapple and all [77].
Research & Nutrition
A fully controlled crossover trial found a whole-food, plant-based diet cut LDL cholesterol 17.9% in adults with familial hypercholesterolemia compared to a standard American diet [30].
A dose-response meta-analysis linked greater adherence to plant-based diets with lower risk of cognitive impairment and dementia [40].
A crossover trial found swapping red meat for plant-based meat lowered TMAO, a marker tied to cardiovascular risk, in adults with and without heart disease [37].
Innovation
MOA Foodtech closed a €3.3 million round to scale its agrifood-waste yeast ingredients, one of which is already inside a commercial pet food product [109].
UK brand Plenish launched a four-ingredient, oil-free protein oat milk aimed at shoppers wary of additives in existing plant milks [104].
Cricketer Steve Smith's Oat Milk Goodness is launching three new protein oat milks at Woolworths, Australia's largest supermarket chain [105].
Wins & Culture
Norfolk recorded its first wild-born beaver kits in 500 years, after a pair of beavers settled on the River Wensum and bred undetected [154].
Law & Policy
The CDC declared a Salmonella outbreak over after 134 patients across 18 states got sick from eggs traced to a Texas producer that has since recalled its product [139].
Activism & Animals
Bolivia's president signed off on technical studies for a highway through the Chiquitania dry forest, which experts say will speed deforestation for Brazilian soy and cattle expansion [123].
One Good Thing
Universal Orlando is finally closing its "Animal Actors" show on November 3, after a PETA investigation found supplier Birds & Animals Unlimited denied sick and injured animals veterinary care and withheld food to force them into tricks [131]. The park pulled all primates from its shows back in 2014, and this closure follows the same show shutting down at Universal Studios Hollywood in 2023 [131]. One pig used in the act, Lewis, spent more than a week limping before anyone called a vet. Soon, nothing at Universal Orlando will have to perform for a living again [131].
Animal Justice
vegconomist the vegan business magazine
