Plant-Based

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In this episode of Food Safety Matters, we speak to Paul Shapiro, best-selling author and CEO of The Better Meat Co., about the food safety and sustainability advantages offered by various novel alternative protein products, their current regulatory oversight, and hurdles they must overcome before being scaled up and widely accepted by governments and consumers.

A recent study found the majority of vegan meat and dairy alternatives available in England to be of satisfactory microbiological quality. Tofu from one producer had a Listeria problem.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has completed its root cause investigation of the summer 2024 listeriosis outbreak linked to plant-based Silk and Great Value milks. The agency was unable to confirm the primary source of the contamination, but found that the production facility was not compliant with testing requirements.

A Canadian foodborne listeriosis outbreak linked to plant-based milks has sickened at least 20 people, hospitalized 15, and caused three deaths. A recall has been issued.

Food spoilage is the result of several factors, one of which is the level of moisture in the food. Flash freezing can be used to reduce spoilage in plant-based milk. Several interventions can improve quality and safety, especially with regard to packaging.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Singapore Food Agency (SFA) have published a joint scientific review on novel food sources and production systems, such as edible insects, cell-based foods, plant-based proteins, and other products.

West Virginia passed a bill known as the Truth in Food Labeling Act, restricting the language that can be used on labels for cell-based meats, plant-based meat alternatives, and other “analogue products,” such as insect-based foods. The bill awaits the Governor’s signature.

The French government has issued a decree that would ban the use of “meaty” descriptor terms for plant-based meat alternative products produced in the country, with the aim of tackling misleading food labels.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a guidance for industry that describes how firms can voluntarily engage with FDA before marketing food from genome-edited plants.

Recent sampling and testing of ingredients used for plant-based dairy alternatives has revealed highly variable microbial loads among ingredients, although many samples contained a high proportion of spore-forming microbes as part of the total counts.