7/16/2021
Calyxt, a biotech firm developing plant-based products, announced the appointment of Michael Carr as their president, CEO, and board member, who will assume his role effective July 27. "Michael's operational, financial, and investment experience, paired with his diverse knowledge across industries including health, nutrients, bioenergy and services will be integral as we advance Calyxt's vision built around our cutting-edge plant-based technologies," said Executive Chair Yves Ribeill.
6/8/2021
A study in BMJ Nutrition, Prevention & Health found that health care workers who subscribed to a plant-based or pescatarian diet had 73% and 59% decreased risk of suffering from moderate-to-severe COVID-19, respectively, compared with those did not follow the diets. The findings, based on data from 2,884 nurses and physicians, indicate that the high amounts of vitamins A, C, D and E, as well as omega 3-fatty acids, in plant-based and pescatarian diets may have offered protection from infection, the researchers said.
6/7/2021 SmartBrief Original
Investor interest in plant-based foods continues to grow after high-profile IPOs and growing consumer demand.
6/7/2021
Danny Meyer's Enlightened Hospitality Investments has invested an undisclosed amount in NotCo, a startup making plant-based foods using artificial intelligence to more closely mimic animal products. NotCo debuted in Chile five years ago and now sells its products in several countries, including the US where its NotMilk is now available at 3,000 Whole Foods Market stores.
6/7/2021
Plant-based food makers won $4.4 billion in funding over the past decade, according to the Good Food Institute, nearly half of it last year alone, as growing consumer interest in flexitarian diets drove demand and innovative startups and later-stage companies improved existing products and developed new ones. "Part of the reason so much money has flooded in was that the Beyond Meat IPO has drawn a lot of people to the space," veteran investor Peter Bodenheimer said.
6/7/2021
People who choose plant protein or high-quality carbohydrates instead of low-quality carbs or animal protein at dinner could reduce their risk of cardiovascular disease by up to 10%, researchers found in an analysis of National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey data. The research also found that eating too much animal protein or low-quality carbs at dinner, rather than breakfast, was associated with a higher risk of CVD.
2/4/2021 SmartBrief Original
Plant-based products are continuing to grow in popularity, both at restaurants and food retail, and certain product categories have emerged as consumer favorites in each channel.
7/13/2021
Nestle is working with Israeli startup Future Meat Technologies to explore the use of cultured meat in its plant-based products, according to Reinhard Behringer, head of the Nestle Institute of Material Sciences at Nestle Research. A hybrid plant-based/lab-grown approach may result in meat alternatives with improved taste and texture, said Behringer.
7/30/2021
Andrea Small-Howard, chief science officer and president of GB Science, is upending the conventional Western approach to medicine of treating each symptom individually by seeking multi-component plant-based compounds that address all aspects of an illness simultaneously. Ethnobotanists train an artificial intelligence platform with data from nine traditional medicine types to identify complex mixtures of active ingredients in plants, then GB Science will create a synthetic version of the plant compounds.
7/30/2021
Registered dietitian Cynthia Sass writes that a raw vegan diet is based on two principles: eating only 100% plant-based foods and eating foods that are not cooked above the temperature of 118ºF. Though following this diet may make it more challenging to get enough vitamins D and B12, calcium, iron and zinc, Sass explains it is effective in preventing people from consuming ultra-processed foods, which are associated with conditions such as obesity, type 2 diabetes, cancer and heart diseases.
