12 EU states tax plant-based foods more; Starbucks drops Impossible
Twelve of 27 EU countries tax at least one vegan food at a higher VAT rate than its animal twin, and none taxes plant-based items lower in any of 15 product pairs, says the European Vegetarian Union.
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Twelve of 27 EU countries tax at least one vegan food at a higher VAT rate than its animal twin, and none taxes plant-based items lower in any of 15 product pairs, says the European Vegetarian Union. [77]
02
Starbucks dropped the Impossible Breakfast Sandwich, ending a six-year partnership and leaving one dedicated vegan item on its US menu. [129]
03
South Korea's SeaWith signed a non-binding MoU to put ₩20B ($14.9M) into a cultivated Hanwoo beef plant, with no regulatory approval yet. [80]
04
Adults who followed the EAT-Lancet diet most closely had a lower diabetes risk in 155,413 UK Biobank participants, an association that cohort data cannot turn into cause. [7]
05
7.3 million UK hens are still in enriched colony cages, and the Government has not announced a decision on a ban eight months after its consultation closed. [101]
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The Stories: the day’s biggest developments, in the sources’ own words
01▼Law & PolicyStory
EU report finds 12 member states tax plant-based foods above animal equivalents
Photo: green queen
The European Vegetarian Union says 12 of the 27 EU member states apply higher VAT to at least one vegan food than to its animal equivalent, with plant-based milk hit in eight of them [77]. In the EVU's 15 product pairs, no member state taxes the plant-based item lower [77]. The EVU also says the 2022 VAT Directive reform already lets governments fix this, so the gap comes from national classification choices [77].
“The EU legal framework already allows equal treatment. Since the 2022 reform of the VAT Directive, member states may apply reduced, super-reduced or zero rates to foodstuffs”
22 pointsthe VAT gap in Hungary: 27% on plant-based milks and meat and fish alternatives against 5% on conventional versions [77]
450%the hike on non-dairy milk in Italy: 22% against 4% for cow's milk [77]
€1.27 vs €1.05what a €1 oat milk and a €1 cow's milk cost after VAT in Hungary [77]
51.5%of parties polled by the EVU support equal rates, against 16.7% opposed [77]
WatchLatvia's temporary 12% rate on milk, fresh poultry, bread and eggs runs to the end of June 2027 and does not cover plant-based alternatives. [77]
FromGreen Queen
02▼Food & RecipesStory
Starbucks drops the Impossible Breakfast Sandwich, leaving one vegan item on its US menu
Photo: plant based news
Starbucks has discontinued the Impossible Breakfast Sandwich and no longer sells a plant-based meat option in the US, Plant Based News reported, citing Bloomberg [129]. The sandwich carried dairy cheese, egg and a dairy ciabatta, so it was never vegan, and it was pitched at flexitarians and meat-reducers [129]. The chain's only dedicated vegan item now is the Spicy Falafel Pocket, and White Castle also dropped its Impossible slider earlier this year [129].
“While we no longer offer the Impossible Breakfast Sandwich, our baristas would be happy to recommend an alternative sandwich.”
“It did seem to sell better than other items but our CEO makes confusing decisions when it comes to these things.”
user claiming to be a Starbucks employee, Starbucks subreddit; unverified community sentiment · [129]
By the numbers
6 yearsthe length of the Starbucks and Impossible Foods partnership that just ended [129]
$7 billionImpossible Foods' reported valuation in 2025 [129]
FromPlant Based News
03▬InnovationStory
South Korea's SeaWith and Orange CAU push cultivated Hanwoo beef toward factories and cheaper cuts
Photo: green queen
SeaWith signed a non-binding MoU with Gyeongsangbuk-do province and Uiseong county to invest ₩20B ($14.9M) in an industrial cultivated Hanwoo beef plant, and says it will file with the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety this year [80]. Separately, Orange CAU, a Gyeongsang National University spinout, is working on a hybrid whole cut that bundles cultured muscle cells with soy, pea and wheat proteins [84]. Neither product has cleared Korean regulators, and IPET has given no launch date for the hybrid steak [84].
“The core of this study is transforming cultured meat, which previously remained in the form of ground meat, into a chunk of meat with a textured grain like a real steak, and lowering the price to half that of Hanwoo sirloin.”
Joo Seon-tae, Gyeongsang National University professor and Orange CAU CEO · [84]
By the numbers
400 tonnesSeaWith's targeted production capacity next year, with three 2,000-litre bioreactors, rising to 1,200 tonnes a year eventually [80]
₩40,000 per kgOrange CAU's projected retail price, about half of Grade 1 Hanwoo sirloin at roughly ₩80,000 per kg, per IPET [84]
70 to 80%the production-cost cut the Orange CAU team expects from plant-protein structure and reusable scaffolds [84]
WatchSeaWith's planned regulatory filing with the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, due this year. [80]
FromGreen Queenvegconomist the vegan business magazine
04▬Research & NutritionStory
Planetary-health diet adherence linked to lower type 2 diabetes risk in 155,413 UK adults
Wikimedia Commons / Lentil
Researchers in Frontiers in Nutrition followed 155,413 UK Biobank participants who started without type 2 diabetes. Those in the highest quartile of EAT-Lancet diet adherence had lower diabetes risk than the lowest quartile on both scoring indices [7]. The EAT-Lancet diet is plant-forward, not vegan, since it cuts red meat rather than animal foods altogether [7]. This is an observational cohort, so it shows association, and the authors call their mediation analysis exploratory [7].
“Greater adherence to the EAT-Lancet diet was associated with lower risk of incident T2D, and this association was partly mediated by slower biological aging.”
HR 0.83(95% CI 0.74–0.92) incident diabetes, highest versus lowest quartile on the Knuppel index [7]
HR 0.85(95% CI 0.78–0.92) the same comparison on the Stubbendorff index [7]
33–44%the share of the diet-diabetes association that biological-aging measures statistically accounted for, in exploratory analysis [7]
FromFrontiers in Nutrition | New and Recent Articles
Worth Knowing
Food & Recipes
Cook this: VegNews' roasted balsamic Brussels sprouts take six ingredients: 1 pound of sprouts, 3 tablespoons olive oil, garlic, salt, pepper and 2 tablespoons balsamic, roasted at 400 degrees for 20 to 30 minutes. [54]
Innovation
Singer Chaka Khan and Atlanta's Plantbaed opened a plant-based café in Serenbe, Georgia on November 1, built around a walnut-meat bowl and planning to employ neurodivergent adults. [82]
Abu Dhabi published a guideline letting cultivated, precision-fermentation and other novel-food companies run controlled tasting trials before full UAE approval, with ADAFSA reviewing each application. [83]
Research & Nutrition
A review of more than 350 papers in Cell Press Blue suggests cutting protein may slow biological aging, but its authors say this does not establish a longer human lifespan, and active people benefit from protein. [3]
Wins & Culture
Vegan Nutella reached Asda at £3.99 a jar against £3.20 for the classic, roughly 25 percent more, and shoppers on the Vegan UK subreddit called it "vegan tax." [130]
One Good Thing
Animal Charity Evaluators named its 2026 recommendations on November 10, and a new name joins the list: Greener by Default. Rather than asking eaters to change, the group makes plant-based the default on institutional menus, with meat available on request, and it advised Sodexo Healthcare on a plant-based default for one meal a day across roughly 400 US hospitals. That is a lot of lunches changed without a single lecture. [87]
vegconomist the vegan business magazine