Plantwise Weekly Issue #4
1 in 3 UK Vegan Products Found to Contain Milk or Egg 😧
Welcome to Plantwise Weekly, a curated digest of the week's most groundbreaking developments.
We plan to keep the newsletter free, but in return, we kindly ask you to share it with your friends, family, and colleagues 😊.
🥛 1 in 3 UK Vegan Products Found to Contain Milk or Egg
📚 TL;DR: The forensic scientists from Hampshire and Kent Scientific Services found 24 out of 61 "vegan" products contained egg or dairy. The Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI) is calling for tighter regulations to protect consumers. There needs to be greater clarity on what can and can’t legally be described as vegan and plant-based food.
🧩 Context: Currently, there's no legal definition for vegan food in the UK. This has allowed companies to market their products as vegan even if they contain dairy or egg. The ambiguity could lead to tragic consequences for those with allergies to milk and eggs. According to a survey by the CTSI, 76% of people believe that something marketed as vegan is free from animal-derived ingredients. This belief is particularly high among those with a milk allergy, with 84.6% believing vegan foods are safe for them to eat.
➡️ Next time you shop, look out for ingredients such as casein, lactose, whey, collagen, and lard or tallow in products marked as plant-based or vegan. Read the full report on The Guardian here.
🌱 Nordic Nutrition Recommendations 2023 Prioritise Plant-Based Foods
📚 TL;DR: The Nordic Council of Ministers has published the Nordic Nutrition Recommendations 2023. For the first time, the report includes guidelines for both public health and the environment. The latest report advocates for a diet rich in fruit, vegetables, legumes, and whole grains. It recommends at least 90 grams of whole grains and between 500 and 800 grams of a variety of fruit and vegetables a day. Locally grown berries and potatoes are also high up on the list due to their small carbon footprints.
🧩 Context: The Nordic nutritional guidelines greatly influence national dietary advice in Iceland, Denmark, Norway, Finland, and Sweden. The new guidelines have been lauded by the World Health Organization. Karen Ellemann, Secretary General of the Nordic Council of Ministers, anticipates that the report will help the Nordic population eat in a manner that is both healthy and environmentally friendly.
➡️ You can delve deeper into the Nordic Nutrition Recommendations 2023 here.
📉 Tattooed Chef Declares Bankruptcy Amid Economic Challenges
📚 TL;DR: Tattooed Chef is seeking a buyer as it plans to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings in California. Despite raising $12m from Chairman and CEO Sam Galletti, the company struggled to secure more funds. For a while, Tattooed Chef has warned of declining sales due to macroeconomic challenges.
🧩 Context: Tattooed Chef is a US-based food company known for its ready-to-cook meals and plant-based offerings. The bankruptcy announcement follows the similar fate of UK-based The Meatless Farm and Canada's The Very Good Food Company. These failures suggest a global ease in demand for meat alternatives. Consumers are less willing to spend more on plant-based alternatives in a period of high inflation. Consumers are also concerned about the nutritional profiles of these plant-based alternatives.
➡️ For more information on Tattooed Chef's bankruptcy process and its impact, check the full story on Just Food here.
📉 A Cooling Market for Plant-Based Meat Start-ups
📚 TL;DR: Venture capital funding for plant-based meat start-ups has decreased significantly in the past year. It is now at its lowest point since 2018. In Q1 2023, plant-based meat start-ups garnered $75.2 million from venture capital firms across just 22 deals. This is down from $703 million in the same period last year, according to PitchBook. The decrease in funding and rising production costs have resulted in some companies filing for bankruptcy.
🧩 Context: Investment is being redirected towards lab-grown and fermented protein alternatives. This sector has secured $356.6 million across 30 deals in the first quarter. Companies and investors are more focused on creating products indistinguishable from real meat.
➡️ Read the full story on FT here.
🖋️ Get in touch
If there is a specific piece of news, topic, or brand that interests you, please share it with us!
Email: hello@plantwiseapp.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/PlantwiseTweets