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Over 450 prehistoric pots were examined, 66 of them contained traces of lipids, that is, substances insoluble in water. On behalf of the Nok research team at Goethe University, chemists from the University of Bristol extracted lipid profiles, with the aim of revealing which plants had been used. The results have now been published in “Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences”: over a third of the 66 lipid profiles displayed very distinctive and complex distributions – indicating that different plant species and parts had been processed.Today, leafy vegetables, for example the cooked leaves of trees such as the baobab (Adansonia digitata) or...

There has been a lot of activity in the world of cultured meat since we reported on a US$330,000 lab-grown burger back in 2013, as scientists and startups work to bring the price down to something resembling the real deal. Making inroads in this space is Israeli startup Future Meats, which has just received the largest investment ever in the cultured meat industry and is rapidly reducing the production costs of its lab-grown chicken. Future Meats is one of a number of cultured meat companies working to reach cost parity with traditional meat products, with Impossible Foods, Eat Just and...

Taco Bell, the restaurant known for having ground beef that's utterly indescribable, reportedly told Beyond Meat that its version of carne asada wasn’t good enough to serve. According to Bloomberg, the chain canceled a test product that featured Beyond’s plant-based steak after samples failed to live up to its standards. Beyond Meat denies the report — Shira Zackai, head of communications at the company told The Verge in an email that “the test between Beyond Meat and Taco Bell was not canceled. Our partnership is strong, and we are actively working together to create a plant-based protein that’s completely new...

Barcelona-based biotech company Libre Foods has announced its first foray into the world of fungi-based whole-cut meats, with an animal-free bacon designed to captivate meat eaters. Having showcased the rashers at a private tasting event in Barcelona, feedback is being used to push commercial roll-out in early 2022. Libre Foods has announced a fungi-based bacon product created using fermentation (precision) technology. It is designed to meet the growing EU demand for pork, currently a $53 billion industry, that offers an alternative to the disadvantages of commercial pig farming. The fungi bacon was unveiled to investors and food-tech community members at...

New UC Riverside research shows soybean oil not only leads to obesity and diabetes, but could also affect neurological conditions like autism, Alzheimer’s disease, anxiety, and depression. Specifically, the scientists found pronounced effects of the oil on the hypothalamus, where a number of critical processes take place. “The hypothalamus regulates body weight via your metabolism, maintains body temperature, is critical for reproduction and physical growth as well as your response to stress,” “The dogma is that saturated fat is bad and unsaturated fat is good. Soybean oil is a polyunsaturated fat, but the idea that it’s good for you is...

Maybe you make an incredible cheese sandwich. Maybe you make a sandwich so good, with melty, gooey cheese and ham, that no other sandwich can compare. Perhaps you add relish, or a little smear of mustard for a nose-tingling kick. Perhaps you hold strong opinions about whether ketchup belongs in a cheese sandwich (it doesn’t). Maybe you’re all cheese-sandwiched out: From the pimento sandwich and the steamed cheeseburger to the artisanal sandwich with chèvre, guanciale, and fig jam, you’ve had them all. Until you haven’t. By the grace of the sandwich gods and some venturous hot dog joints in Fall...

Consumer Affairs Minister Alberto Garzón has reignited the debate about Spain’s love of meat by asking Spaniards to consume less “carne” to protect their personal health as well as the future of the planet. “I am worried. I am worried about the planet,” Garzón said in a video posted on Twitter on July 7th, pleading with Spaniards to cut down their meat consumption to improve their personal well-being and that of the planet’s. “Without a planet we have no life, we have no salaries and we have no economy. And we are bringing this upon ourselves. One thing we can...

Plant-based and additional meatless products are accused of misleading buyers under a bill the Texas House approved Monday. “Texas is the latest state to debate measures that would prohibit foods that don’t contain animal products from using words like ‘meat’ or ‘beef’ in their name,” the Dallas Morning News reported. The bill was approved following a debate but needs one additional vote in the House to move on to the Texas Senate. According to Rep. Brad Buckley, his bill would help protect consumers, including vegetarians and vegans, from purchasing a product by mistake. “This is for those who choose to...

For any person — or publication — wanting to envision a more sustainable way to cook, cutting out beef is a worthwhile first step. Almost 15 percent of greenhouse gas emissions globally come from livestock (and everything involved in raising it); 61 percent of those emissions can be traced back to beef. Cows are 20 times less efficient to raise than beans and roughly three times less efficient than poultry and pork. It might not feel like much, but cutting out just a single ingredient — beef — can have an outsize impact on making a person's cooking more environmentally...

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A vegetarian or vegan diet may be increasing the likelihood of depression, a US-based study has found. People with a plant-based diet were twice as likely to take prescription drugs for mental illness and nearly three times as likely to contemplate suicide. The report, which looked at more than 160,000 people, also found that a shocking one in three vegetarians suffer from depression or anxiety. Researchers reviewed 18 studies examining the relationship between mental health and eating meat, involving a total of 160,257 participants. They concluded that vegetarians and vegans had “significantly” higher rates or risk of depression, anxiety and...

A self-proclaimed "vegan runner" from Berkeley, California received backlash on Saturday after asking neighbors to close their windows when cooking meat because the smells were 'overpowering and offensive.' The rant was posted to @BestNextDoor -- an account that houses neighborhood drama -- which showed the runner had requested nearby residents only barbeque vegetables because it's "always hard for me this time of year when the weather starts warming up." "Several nights a week I'm out running around dinnertime and when people have their windows open I can smell what they are cooking," the request said. "I've noticed a sharp uptick...

Vegans across the country are protesting Starbucks for its "insane" institution of a "vegan tax" against non-dairy drinkers. The controversy, which stems from the fact that the coffee chain typically charges extra for plant-based milk options, has led to sit-ins at Starbucks locations nationwide, Insider reported. PETA, the animal rights group, has organized many of the protests, which have taken place in cities such as San Diego, Queens, N.Y., and Meriden Township, Minn., as well as outside the home of the company’s CEO, Kevin Johnson. **SNIP** The protests began in December 2019, when PETA announced it was purchasing shares of...

In a landmark case, a United Kingdom judge ruled on January 3 that ethical veganism constitutes a philosophical belief and is now protected under anti-discrimination laws.

Disparaging vegans could now land you behind bars for discrimination, a UK labor court ruled. On Friday, a tribunal in Norwich, England, determined that ethical veganism is a “religion or belief,” and one of the nine “protected characteristics” under the 2010 Equality Act. The ruling comes after Jordi Casamitjana of London claimed he had been fired by the League Against Cruel Sports as a result of his ethical veganism. Casamitjana said he was compelled to blow the whistle on his former employer, who he says had invested pension funds into firms that tested on animals. According to the League Against...

Scans of mummified Inuits from 16th-century Greenland revealed that the ancient hunters suffered from clogged-up arteries despite a diet rich in omega-3 fatty acids. Atherosclerosis — the build-up of plaques of fat, cholesterol and calcium in one's arteries — is a leading cause of death today in the world's wealthier countries. While often seen as a product of modern lifestyles, evidence of the condition has been found in human remains dating back as far as around 4,000 BC. However, none of these examples enjoyed a diet rich in omega-3 fatty acids, which has been suggested can help protect against plaque...

Before you get buzzed, consider eating some beef. A new study found that vegetarians and vegans may experience hangovers more severely than meat-eaters do. Published in the Journal of Clinical Medicine, researchers at Utrecht University in the Netherlands analyzed the after-effects of drinking alcohol in 13 social drinkers. Twenty-three hangover symptoms were monitored in participants on a control night and after a night out drinking, which included headaches, nausea, heart palpitations, vomiting, dizziness, sweating, sensitivity to light and sound and thirst. Throughout the study, participants recorded everything they ate and the analysis discovered that those with less nicotinic acid, otherwise...

A Florida couple who told police they fed their children a vegan diet of only raw fruit and vegetables was charged with murder Wednesday months after their 18-month old son allegedly starved to death in their home. Ryan Patrick O’Leary, 30, and Sheila O’Leary, 35, of Cape Coral, were indicted by a grand jury on charges of first-degree murder and other charges, State Attorney Amira Fox said. The mother called police on Sept. 27 when police said she said she noticed her 18-month-old son had gone cold and stopped breathing. The father tried to resuscitate him, police said. Paramedics pronounced...

This wing man is not feeling the vegan movement. An anonymous man undoubtedly won the hearts of meat lovers everywhere after he trolled a vegan protest event with a giant bucket of KFC chicken wings. His finger-licking-good prank quickly went viral online, garnering mixed reactions from social media. [snip] But their protest failed to impress this chickenhead — who stood by in short-shorts, nonchalantly chomping on a cardboard container of KFC’s signature 11 herbs and spices recipe.

A Cambridge college has removed a 17th century painting from its dining hall because it offended vegans. Hughes Hall received complaints from students who said the painting, depicting a pile of dead animals, was putting them off their food. The Fowl Market, from the studio of Flemish artist Frans Snyders, features a striking collection of animals, including a boar and deer, caged hens and game birds strung up on hooks.