The Protein Digest

Leeds AI model pinpoints nearly 800 plant proteins as potential emulsifiers. The machine-learning pipeline, developed at the University of Leeds in collaboration with the University of Edinburgh, screened tens of millions of candidates and validated its predictions with commercially available pea and potato proteins, potentially cutting years off ingredient discovery for food, cosmetic, and pharmaceutical applications. (eurekalert.org)

Pasqal and True Nexus model protein gelation on quantum processors. The collaboration, backed by Saudi Arabia's MCIT under Vision 2030, used neutral-atom quantum processors to simulate the molecular mechanisms behind protein gelation, aiming to accelerate the computational design of plant and novel functional proteins. (quantumcomputingreport.com)

Protein Industries Canada backs AI tools for crop disease prediction and grain storage. Two projects totaling $4.9 million will develop an AI-powered Ascochyta blight prediction tool for pulse crops and a drone-and-LiDAR system for safer, more accurate grain inventory measurement on Canadian farms. (markets.businessinsider.com)

Carozzi taps four global startups for food innovation pilots in Chile. The Chilean food company's Sinergia Startup program, run with Eatable Adventures, drew 183 applications from 26 countries and chose ProxyFoods, Sensesbit, Endless Food Co., and BioBlends for pilot projects spanning AI-driven product development, biopreservation, and cocoa alternatives. (Protein Report)

Dutch consortium wins €4M to convert agricultural waste streams into food. The VASCO consortium, led by Wageningen University & Research and funded by the Dutch Research Council, will spend six years developing fermentation and dry fractionation methods to turn legume, rapeseed, and potato residues into food products including spreads, snacks, and fungal proteins. (ioplus.nl)

Slades Beverages takes first equity stake in oat milk maker OMG Group. The A$350,000 cornerstone investment, part of a A$1.5 million placement, will also establish Slades as OMG's oat milk manufacturing partner as the ASX-listed plant-based food group reported FY26 revenue up 48 percent to A$6.13 million. (businessnewsaustralia.com)

USDA seeks public comment on Pioneer's insect-resistant biotech soybean. Pioneer Hi-Bred International, a Corteva Agriscience unit, is seeking nonregulated status for soybean variety COR-23134-4, which expresses three insecticidal proteins targeting caterpillar pests. Comments on the APHIS petition and draft plant pest risk assessment are due by October 19. (global-agriculture.com)

SaladStop! Group aims for 60% plant-sourced protein across its menus. The target, which covers ingredients such as legumes, seitan, nuts, seeds, and mushrooms, forms part of the company's broader commitment to reach net-zero emissions by 2030 across more than 80 outlets in Asia. (qsrmedia.asia)

KAIST maps industrialization roadmap for microbial food production. Researchers and KAIST startup SilicoBio published a strategy in One Earth identifying manufacturing scale-up, regulatory readiness, and integrated platform design as the critical factors for commercializing microbial foods beyond the laboratory. (eurekalert.org)

EMBL team grows self-organizing bovine tissue with muscle, nerve, and vessel cells. The method, published in Nature Communications, produced tiny three-dimensional tissue aggregates containing skeletal muscle, neurons, and blood vessel cells that self-organized from a single embryonic stem cell line, representing a proof of concept that could advance future cell-cultured meat research. (phys.org)

Stanford lab advances multimaterial 3D printing for cell-cultured meat and soft robotics. Professor Natalie Larson's lab is developing subvoxel bioprinting techniques that simultaneously extrude muscle, fat, and sacrificial inks to construct steak-like cell-cultured meat, alongside applications in soft robotics and structural batteries. (news.stanford.edu)

Industry-funded report on infant formula botulism outbreaks draws criticism for lacking mandatory rules. The Reagan-Udall Foundation report, funded by ByHeart and the International Dairy Foods Association, offers 22 voluntary recommendations but no binding requirements, even as its own data show existing industry tests failed to detect C. botulinum spores at levels that hospitalized 52 infants across two linked outbreaks. (marlerblog.com)

Lawsuits challenge Riverview Farms dairy expansion in Minnesota and North Dakota. The corporate dairy producer, which already manages nearly one-third of Minnesota's dairy cows, is pursuing seven new projects across two states, prompting environmental litigation over nitrate contamination and a record of large-scale manure spills. (minnpost.com)

EU halts Brazilian meat imports over antibiotic rule violations. The suspension, effective Thursday, covers poultry, beef, eggs, and honey after Brazil failed to guarantee compliance with EU standards on antibiotic use in livestock. Brazil was the bloc's second-largest beef supplier in 2025, with exports worth more than €713 million. (france24.com)

FDA urged to shift from foreign inspections to country-level food-safety partnerships. A 2025 GAO report found the agency averaged just 917 foreign food-safety inspections annually from 2018 through 2023, far short of its 19,200-facility target, prompting calls for a systemic shift toward leveraging foreign governments' own regulatory capacity. (washingtonpost.com)