NUTRITION & HEALTH : Imitation meat debuts in the USA

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In November, the US Food & Drugs Administration, the public office responsible for food safety, approved the first step that opens the door to commercialization to an imitation of ‘chicken’ produced in the lab by UPSIDE Food. At the same time, ingredient-provider start up is proposing to replace bees with bioreactors and precision-fermentation to supply the honey of the future. A study that was published analyzing the change in diets (based on fewer animal-based products) confirms that it could lead to a resurge of iodine deficiency disorders, with potential long-lasting impact on brain development.  

More delays expected for the front-of-pack nutritional labelling dossier: in fact, even if the Commission was expected to start discussing draft legislation under the Czech Presidency of the Council, during several public events, it announced that the dossier still needs further analysis, and an impact assessment is undergoing. Probably, it will be the Swedish Presidency that will have to handle this file … if the Commission proposed a draft in the next six months. 

New literature finds that industrial products that aim to imitate meat contain ‘anti-nutrients’, that do not allow the body to correctly absorb specific nutrients such as iron and zinc.  

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