The UK government opened a consultation on ending CO2 stunning of pigs, the method now used on most UK pigs [98].
02
The Good Food Institute's review of more than 30 life-cycle assessments says fermentation-made protein beats meat and dairy on emissions, land and water. It is an advocacy group's synthesis of existing studies [64].
03
Miyoko's Creamery recalled a lot of its plant butter over potential E. coli, and founder Miyoko Schinner wants her name off the brand [41].
04
World Animal Protection says ostrich feathers in fashion are plucked or cut from live birds, not shed [82].
The movement today▲Law & Policy▬Activism & Animals▬Innovation▼Food & RecipesThe storylines →
The Stories: the day’s biggest developments, in the sources’ own words
01▲Law & PolicyStory
UK government opens consultation to phase out CO2 stunning of pigs
Photo: plant based news
The UK government launched an eight-week consultation at the end of October on phasing out CO2 stunning for pigs, proposing a two-to-three-year transition to other methods [98]. It follows a report about a year ago from the independent Animal Welfare Committee, which found "significant" evidence that CO2 causes "avoidable" pain, respiratory distress and fear [98]. Plant Based News adds that repeated CO2 shortages are likely also a factor [98].
“We warmly welcome the UK Government’s consultation to end CO2 slaughter for pigs.”
Anthony Field, head of Compassion in World Farming UK · [98]
“While welfare reform within industrial animal agriculture is important, it must not be seen as the final destination.”
More than 10 millionpigs killed in the UK each year [98]
52 percent in 2013 to 90 percent in 2025the share of pigs CO2-stunned, per Compassion in World Farming [98]
WatchThe eight-week consultation, launched at the end of October, then the government's response on a phase-out [98].
FromPlant Based News
02▬InnovationStory
GFI review finds fermentation proteins far lighter on climate than meat and dairy
Photo: green queen
The Good Food Institute, an alt-protein think tank, examined more than 30 life-cycle assessments and reports lower emissions, land use and water use for proteins made by biomass, precision and microalgae fermentation [64]. The report is GFI's review of published assessments, not new measurement, and the group names renewable energy as the "single highest-leverage improvement" [64]. A peer-reviewed review of precision fermentation is more cautious about the commercial side [19].
“laboratory titres do not guarantee industrial scalability”
authors of a precision-fermentation mini-review · [19]
By the numbers
98%lower emissions than beef for biomass-fermented protein, against 86% for pork and 75% for chicken, per GFI's review [64]
62-97%fewer greenhouse gas emissions than US dairy protein for precision fermentation, per GFI [64]
29-73%lower emissions for microbial omega-3 oils than wild-caught fish oil on crop-based feedstocks, per GFI [64]
FromGreen QueenPubMed
03▼Food & RecipesStory
Miyoko's Creamery recalls plant butter as its founder disowns the brand
Photo: vegnews
Miyoko's Creamery says it voluntarily recalled a specific lot of its European Style Salted Plant Milk Butter after testing flagged a potential food-safety concern, and VegNews reports the worry is E. coli [41]. Founder Miyoko Schinner, removed in 2022 and outbid for the brand in 2025 by Prosperity Organic Foods, is asking the company to stop using her name [41]. Anyone holding a tub of the European Style Salted butter should check it against the recall [42].
“I want people to know that I have nothing to do with what’s going on right now with your tainted products.”
Miyoko Schinner, founder, in an Instagram video · [41]
“We’re committed to earning that trust through transparency, product quality and what we put on shelves every day”
World Animal Protection investigation says ostrich feathers come from live plucking
Photo: faunalytics
World Animal Protection and Collective Fashion Justice report that investigators who visited Klein Karoo farms in 2026 found wing feathers live plucked every six months, or cut and then pulled out with pliers [82]. That contradicts the common marketing line that feathers are naturally shed, since wild ostriches have no mass molting season [82]. Melbourne and Copenhagen fashion weeks have banned ostrich feathers, but none of the big four have feather-free policies [82].
By the numbers
More than 150 metric tonsof ostrich feathers exported from South Africa in 2024/2025, worth more than US$60 million [82]
47%of poll respondents believed fashion feathers are mostly collected through natural shedding [82]
83%agreed farming and killing ostriches for fashion should be banned, in World Animal Protection's polling [82]
24major luxury brands reviewed; only Stella McCartney has a feather policy [82]
FromFaunalytics
Worth Knowing
Food & Recipes
Full of Plants reworked its vegan Frankfurter recipe around tofu and vital wheat gluten, for 6g of protein for 80 calories per sausage by the site's own count [32].
Burger King UK is giving away more than 250,000 Vegan Royales until November 22 to shoppers who buy a promotional pack of The Vegetarian Butcher's vegan chicken [42].
Innovation
Formo and Those Vegan Cowboys secured an FDA GRAS letter to sell cow-free casein in the US, Green Queen reported [50].
Cell-ag money is arriving in small pieces: Niigata Venture Capital backed IntegriCulture and LIOF backed Senara, and neither disclosed an amount [68][70].
Activism & Animals
A BioScience State of the Climate report found per capita meat production hit a record in 2024, with more ruminant livestock than at any point since the 1960s, Grist reported [85].
Guinea baboons stopped visiting a fruit patch after one trip following a 2019 wildfire that destroyed the ripe Natal oranges, then resumed in the next fruiting year, a study found [84].
One Good Thing
Mishi Jain and Sunny Shah held a 150-person wedding at Chunda Palace in Udaipur, the first completely vegan wedding known to be hosted in Rajasthan [43]. The palace had never catered a plant-based event, so the couple ran blind taste tests and served tofu lababdar, a cashew-tomato gravy over vegan paneer, in place of the dairy classics [43]. "We didn’t tell anyone it was vegan until the last day," Sunny said, and one cousin who had never heard of a vegan wedding left curious to try it himself [43].
Creepy carrot fingers, complete with almond slice fingernails, emerge from a bowl of homemade garlicky hummus in this fun, plant-based Halloween snack.
![Halloween Creepy Fingers [Vegan, Gluten-Free]](/briefs/2026-10-31/images/recipe-halloween-creepy-fingers-vegan-gluten-free.jpg)