The Protein Digest

SDSU leads USDA-funded effort to build predictive database for food proteins. The FoodProt initiative, funded by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, brings together five universities to standardize fragmented research data and eventually support AI-driven predictions of how proteins perform in food products. (sdsu.edu)

Duke study finds local news drives plant-based food adoption on grocery shelves. Research from Duke University's Fuqua School of Business finds that local news shared on social media can match traditional advertising in getting products onto grocery shelves, though political and cultural contexts significantly shape consumer adoption of plant-based foods. (today.duke.edu)

Maïzly corn milk reaches 2,000 U.S. stores with Harris Teeter launch. The non-GMO corn milk brand secured nationwide placement at Harris Teeter for its Original and Chocolate varieties, adding to recent launches at Central Market, Winn-Dixie, and ShopRite. (bevnet.com)

Ingredion to acquire Tate & Lyle for £2.7 billion. The all-cash deal, which values the British ingredients firm at £3.8 billion including debt, will create a combined specialty ingredients business worth roughly $9.9 billion focused on texture, sugar reduction, and nutrition. (rte.ie)

University of Canterbury explores leaf protein as catastrophe-proof food source. The research, led by Associate Professor David Denkenberger, investigates how leaves from crops and forage plants can be processed into protein concentrate and sugar, potentially increasing food output from existing farmland during global catastrophes or as part of more sustainable conventional agriculture. (insidegovernment.co.nz)

Researchers propose three-phase framework for mainstreaming microbial proteins. The Nature Communications paper organizes techno-economic, regulatory, and infrastructural hurdles into a novelty-barrier, trust-building, and normalization trajectory, mapping engineering and policy levers needed at each stage. (nature.com)

Rising fertilizer costs bolster case for microbial fermentation and cell culture in UK food production. A 70% rise in UK fertilizer and energy prices, linked partly to the Iran conflict, is intensifying pressure on food manufacturers and retailers to diversify production through microbial fermentation and cell cultivation. Clean Food Group's newly acquired million-liter facility, set to produce a palm oil substitute on British shores, exemplifies the trend. (foodmanufacture.co.uk)

BioHarvest grows plant compounds in bioreactors, bypassing traditional farming. The Israeli biotech company isolates productive plant cells and grows them in bioreactors, claiming roughly one-hundredth the resource use of conventional farming for equivalent ingredient output. Its flagship product concentrates red grape polyphenols, and it is pursuing sweetener, saffron, and fragrance projects. (i24news.tv)

UPSIDE Foods bids $50m for Believer Meats' North Carolina facility. The stalking horse bid covers Believer Meats' Wilson, North Carolina production facility, including bioreactors reportedly at the 20,000-liter scale, with competing offers due by July 20. The facility reportedly cost over $150 million to build, and UPSIDE Foods, which has raised $608 million, had previously paused plans for a separate large-scale production site. (agfundernews.com)

Tufts study finds terminology shapes consumer acceptance of cell-cultured meat. Researchers at the Tufts University Center for Cellular Agriculture found that terms like "cultured" and "cellular" significantly outperformed "lab-grown" in consumer willingness to pay, with results holding across both U.S. and German samples. (now.tufts.edu)

Plant cell culture startups eye food ingredients beyond pharma origins. Several startups are attempting to bring bioreactor-grown botanical ingredients to market, targeting high-value crops such as saffron, vanilla, and cocoa whose supply chains are vulnerable to climate and geopolitical disruption. Phyton Biotech, Krokos Bio, Novella, and Rheaplant are among the firms navigating steep cost and regulatory hurdles to move the technology beyond its pharmaceutical roots. (agfundernews.com)

Myriameat claims first cell-cultured pork muscle from pluripotent stem cells. The German startup, spun out of decades of tissue engineering research at the University Medical Center Göttingen, has partnered with the Hans Kupfer Group to integrate its cultured pork muscle into hybrid sausages at industrial scale. (munich-startup.de)

Malaysia explores cultured meat to strengthen food security. The Agriculture and Food Security Ministry is assessing cell-based food products from technical, economic, regulatory, and halal certification perspectives as part of a broader national food security strategy that also addresses climate risks. (thestar.com.my)

Aberystwyth researchers use fungal fermentation to improve aroma of bread-crust protein powder. The IBERS team at Aberystwyth University identified over 150 aroma compounds produced during solid-state fermentation of surplus bread crusts and ryegrass protein, also developing a mathematical model to predict odor profiles early in production. (businessnewswales.com)

Nigerian researchers domesticate indigenous mushroom using sawdust waste. Research presented at ASM Microbe 2026 demonstrates that Lentinus squarrosulus, a nutritious but increasingly rare wild species in Eastern Nigeria, can be grown on locally available sawdust, yielding improved nutritional content while reducing agricultural waste and the risks of wild foraging. (eurekalert.org)

Trump opens three Pacific marine monuments to commercial fishing. The proclamation targets three remote Pacific monuments established under former Presidents Obama and Bush, but critics argue the areas are too small to meaningfully reduce seafood prices and warn of ecological harm. (mynorthwest.com)

Colombia enacts first national law to trace cattle and curb deforestation. The legislation requires the integration of cattle-tracking, land-ownership, and deforestation-monitoring systems across government and industry, with a two-year implementation timeline. Environmental groups say Colombia is the first tropical forest country to adopt such a nationwide framework, though its impact will depend on enforcement in remote Amazonian regions. (wral.com)

White paper argues conventional livestock will dominate Asia's protein supply despite cell-cultured advances. Agrospectrum Asia's analysis finds that more than 55 percent of global meat production growth through 2034 will come from the region, with investment in emerging protein technologies falling below $1 billion in 2025 for the first time since 2018. (agrospectrumindia.com)

Screwworm parasite spreads to New Mexico as U.S. cattle industry braces for outbreak. The USDA has now confirmed five cases across Texas and New Mexico, including a dog with no travel history to affected areas, prompting quarantine zones and intensified sterile-fly drops as officials race to prevent a broader outbreak threatening the nation's cattle herds. (apnews.com)