How Climax Foods is Using AI to Revolutionise Vegan Cheese

From unchainedtv.com

Who would have guessed that scientists are now using AI to revolutionize vegan cheese, and what’s the result? Hold onto your taste buds, because the future of cheese is here, and it’s vegan! Climax Foods, a bold new player in the plant-based game, is rewriting the rules of dairy—with some serious help from artificial intelligence. Led by Oliver Zahn, a former Google data scientist who also happens to be an astrophysicist (yes, really!), this company is turning heads and flipping the script on how we think about cheese. Their secret weapon? An AI-powered process that finds the tastiest plant ingredients to craft vegan cheese so good, you won’t believe it didn’t come from a cow.

AI + Vegan Cheese = Match Made in Heaven

Climax Foods cheese on pasta. Yum!

So how exactly does AI fit into your next cheese plate? Well, Climax Foods isn’t just mixing random plants and hoping for the best. Instead, they’ve analysed over 300,000 plants using sophisticated tech to pinpoint the perfect combinations that make their vegan cheeses taste, feel, and melt like the real deal. Forget the old trial-and-error method of food science—these guys are using AI to do in days what used to take years!

And the result? Absolutely drool-worthy cheeses. Their vegan blue cheese and Brie have been getting rave reviews. If you’re lucky enough to try them, prepare for your mind to be blown. One taster at a recent Loving Farm Animal Sanctuary fundraiser described it as “sinfully rich” and “absolutely delicious”—a game-changer in the world of vegan cheese.

The Plant Kingdom to the Rescue

Climax Foods has discovered what it calls Super Casein from plants

Here’s the cool part: traditional cheese only comes from a few types of milk (cow, goat, sheep), but when you tap into the plant kingdom, there are thousands of options. Climax Foods is using AI to sift through all these plants and create a new kind of cheese magic. They’ve even developed a plant-based version of casein—the key protein that gives cheese its iconic stretch and melt. Basically, you can have all the gooey goodness of cheese without any of the cruelty.

Bye-Bye Dairy, Hello Future!

Climax Foods Brie looks and tastes exactly like traditional dairy Brie.

Let’s talk about the big picture. The dairy industry isn’t just bad for animals—it’s bad for the planet, too. Raising cows for milk takes a huge toll on water, land, and resources. And don’t even get us started on the heart-breaking cruelty involved, like separating calves from their moms so humans can drink the milk that was meant for baby cows. It’s a lose-lose situation.

Climax Foods is here to change that. By offering insanely good vegan cheese alternatives, they’re giving people a way to enjoy their favourite foods without the guilt. As Sacha Lorin puts it, “We need to change the way people treat animals. That starts with showing them how amazing plant-based options can be.”

The mission is clear: Climax Foods isn’t just making cheese—they’re creating a future where our food choices are kinder to animals, the environment, and our own health. And, with AI driving their innovation, it’s only a matter of time before vegan cheese takes over the world. You heard it here first!

Climax Foods is turning the cheese world upside down, using AI to make plant-based cheese that rivals even the best Brie and blue cheese out there. It’s delicious, it’s sustainable, and it’s proof that you don’t need dairy to have a good time. So, next time you’re craving a hunk of cheese, remember: the future is cheesy, and it’s 100% plant-based.

Check out this show and more at UnchainedTV.

https://unchainedtv.com/2024/09/29/how-climax-foods-is-using-ai-to-revolutionize-vegan-cheese/ 

3D printed vegan steak launches in UK retailers

From agriland.co.uk

Redefine meat, a meat substitute company pioneering the use of 3D printing technology in the manufacturing of plant-based alternatives, has launched its 3D printed vegan steak in the UK retail market.

The Israeli start-up which was founded in 2018, specialises in vegan meat designed to mimic the sensory profile of the animal derived product.

Redefine flank steak is produced at scale in the company’s European headquarters in the Netherlands via its patented “meat matrix manufacturing” ,which combines additive/3D printing and AI technologies to replicate animal meat, without slaughtering livestock.

3D printing

The company claims 3D printing is uniquely positioned to duplicate the muscle and fat structures found in cuts of animal meat which prove fundamental to the sensory experience, making its vegan meat “distinguishable” from real meat.

The 3D printed vegan steak, which even appears to bleed upon cutting, is composed of non-GMO plant proteins, including soy, wheat and pea, which deliver 25g of protein per steak.

The company was inspired to create their plant based product line, which purportedly produces 90% less greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions compared to its animal-based equivalent, in response to the growing demand for sustainable and ethically produced meat substitutes.

Speaking about the launch, Redefine Meat’s CEO and co-founder, Eshchar Ben-Shitrit, said:

“When we founded Redefine Meat six years ago, we had a bold and seemingly impossible target of launching a premium-quality steak for mass consumers to buy and cook at home.

“Today marks a historic milestone in that journey, expanding the fast-growing new-meat category to give consumers direct access to chef-quality steaks.

“Having focused much of our journey to date on refining our products to meet the quality standards of the highest echelons of the culinary world, we’re proud to bring the fruits of this labour directly to consumers through our best-in-class retail partners.”

Redefine meat, which has featured on restaurant menus across Europe since 2022, has been available for commercial sale since July via the UK retailer, Ocado, which sells groceries under its joint venture with Marks and Spencers.

The online retailer was the fastest growing grocer in the UK for the seventh consecutive month in August, according to data analytics company, Kantar.

Ocado Senior Buyer, Zee Ahmad said: “We’ve expanded our Redefine Meat offering to Ocado customers by launching the first premium-quality plant-based steak in the Ocado range.

“We’ve been pleased with the performance since the launch in late 2023 and are really happy with the glowing shopper reviews. We hope they’ll enjoy the new Redefine Flank Steak just as much and look forward to seeing sales grow through the summer.”

The vegan steak, which has been endorsed by internationally reknowned chefs, Marco Pierre White and Ron Blaauw, is also available in Switzerland, with a roll-out in the Dutch supermarkets soon to follow.

The company also sells lamb, beef and burger substitutes, alongside its flank vegan steak.

According to statistics, the global food tech market which combines advanced technology with food science, of which Redefine Meat champions, is set to reach a value of $342.52 billion by 2027.

In 2024, the same data analytics company reported that 7% of the UK population are vegetarian while a further 4% identify as vegan.

https://www.agriland.co.uk/farming-news/3d-printed-vegan-steak-launches-in-uk-retailers/

Scientists Just Developed A Golden Lettuce With 30 Times More Vitamin A

From plantbasednews.org

The scientists' "biofortification" methods also gave the lettuce its gold colouring 

Scientists have developed a fortified variety of lettuce with a distinctive golden hue that could help tackle vitamin A micronutrient deficiencies.

The group of researchers discovered a new combined method of “biofortification” to multiply the bioavailable beta-carotene in green plant tissues up to 30 times the typical amount.

Once ingested, the human body converts beta-carotene into essential vitamin A, which supports the immune system, growth and development, and normal vision. Vitamin A also helps internal organs like the heart, lungs, and other tissues.

                                  Biofortification could help to mitigate micronutrient deficiencies - Media Credit: IBMCP

The researchers published a report of their work in The Plant Journal in August of this year. In the report, they wrote “Micronutrient deficiency, also known as hidden hunger, is still a major problem in many countries. In particular, vitamin A deficiency causes xerophthalmia and can lead to other health problems and even death.”

While conventional food supplementation or fortification can help reduce the risk of micronutrient deficiencies, these methods remain “unaffordable in many cases.” Biofortification – meaning the development of micronutrient-enriched crops – is one alternative method of tackling the “hidden hunger” of deficiencies.

Breakthrough could help fight micronutrient deficiencies

                                                             Adobe Stock

                      Biofortification could work well on chard and other leafy greens as well   

The group that carried out the work is from the Research Institute for Plant Molecular and Cellular Biology (IBMCP), a joint venture of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) and the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV).

They combined several different approaches to increasing beta-carotene content to achieve their successful results. This avoided negatively affecting other vital processes in the plant, such as photosynthesis, which can happen during biofortification.

Instead, the team’s combined methods cause beta-carotene to accumulate in “cellular compartments” within the plants where it is not normally found.

This allows for the 3,000 percent increase in beta-carotene they reported, and the plant’s distinctive gold colour, without compromising the health of the plant – or its flavour. The same technique could allow scientists to fortify any number of nutritious leafy greens.

https://plantbasednews.org/news/science/scientists-developed-golden-lettuce-vitamin-a/

3 Vegan Pasta Bake Ideas

From plantbasednews.org

Pasta bakes are comforting, child-friendly, and very easy to make - here are three vegan recipes to try 

The evenings are getting shorter, temperatures are dropping, and we’re all starting to think about digging out the big coat. All this means one thing: it’s officially pasta bake season.

Pasta bake is the ultimate fall comfort food. It’s easy to make, doesn’t require complex ingredients, and it’s pretty much guaranteed to taste good. Traditional recipes tend to be heavy on dairy cheese, but it’s perfectly possible to make a vegan version with just a few simple swaps.

If you aren’t familiar with pasta bake, it’s exactly what it sounds like: a baked pasta dish that typically includes pasta, sauce, and cheese. It’s generally topped with cheese or breadcrumbs, and baked in the oven until crispy. Pasta bakes are popular throughout the world, and they’re also very kid-friendly. You can make these pasta bakes for the family, a dinner party, or just an evening home alone.

Vegan pasta bake ideas

The below vegan pasta bake recipes are made entirely without animal ingredients. But none of them are missing out on any of the cheesy goodness that this dish is renowned for – as they all use dairy-free alternatives instead. From a saucy spaghetti bake to a baked feta pasta, here are three vegan pasta bake ideas to try.

Baked feta pasta

If you want to try the viral baked feta pasta but follow a plant-based diet, this recipe is for you   Natali Eleftheriou

Baked feta pasta went viral on TikTok back in 2021, and it’s been a hugely popular recipe since then. Feta is usually made from sheep’s or goat’s milk, or a mixture of them both. But it’s now easier than ever to find animal-free feta in the supermarket – and many of them taste just like the real thing. This recipe, which comes from Natlicious Food, uses Violife Greek White – but other brands like Nurishh and Green Vie make similar products. Other ingredients include capers, eggplants, sun-dried tomatoes, and nutritional yeast.

Find the recipe here.

Spaghetti bake with alfredo sauce

                          This cheesy bake is perfect for rainy evenings   Tanya Pilgram

If you’ve never used spaghetti in a pasta bake, you’re seriously missing out. This recipe is saucy, cheesy, packed full of flavour, and it couldn’t be easier to make. Unusually, the homemade sauce for this recipe doesn’t require any vegan cheese. Instead, ingredients like plant milk, dairy-free butter, and nutritional yeast all work together to create the creamy texture. This recipe comes from Sam Turnbull’s vegan cookbook Craving Vegan.

Find the recipe here.

Creamy pumpkin pasta bake

                           This pumpkin pasta bake is perfect for fall    Ela Vegan

If fall was a recipe, it would probably be this incredibly tasty creamy pumpkin pasta bake. As well as being packed full of vegan cheese, this recipe also uses pumpkin puree, which gives this dish a distinctly autumnal look and taste. This recipe is an Ela Vegan creation. It doesn’t use too many ingredients, and many of them are cupboard staples. This is a great evening dinner to cook up after a long day at work, and it’s also perfect if you’re throwing a Halloween dinner party…

Find the recipe here.

https://plantbasednews.org/veganrecipes/dinner/vegan-pasta-bake-ideas/

‘You can’t build muscle as a vegan’ – and 13 other plant-based myths, busted

From theguardian.com

Veganism: boring and expensive but always the most ethical choice, right? Wrong, say our experts, who tackle misconceptions about plant-based eating 

You can’t build muscle on a vegan diet

FALSE
While plenty of vegan athletes and bodybuilders share their diets online, some elite sports people find they need to add animal products to their previously strict plant-based regimes. Venus Williams calls herself a “chegan” (cheating vegan) and Novak Djokovic reportedly started eating fish to help his muscles recover after elbow surgery.

“Protein is something vegans need to think about” says Reena Sharma, AKA the Vegan Dietitian, who has been vegan for six years. “But most people in the west, vegan or not, exceed their protein requirements anyway.” Plant-based foods don’t usually contain all nine essential amino acids – the building blocks for muscle growth, which also play a role in immune, digestion, hormone and neurological systems. “But combined with other plant foods – like a peanut butter sandwich or hummus with pitta – they can.”

                                                     Illustration by Edith Pritchett for the Guardian

Humans are designed to eat meat

TRUE
But we’re also designed to eat plants. “Humans have been omnivores since the beginning of time because we can digest both plants and animals,” says Sharma. “However, we don’t have typical carnivore features such as sharp teeth and claws, potentially indicating we are more suited to plants.”

Vegan options are always healthiest

FALSE
“Once, that probably was true,” says Dr Chris van Tulleken, author of Ultra-Processed People: Why Do We All Eat Stuff That Isn’t Food … and Why Can’t We Stop? “Now, it’s very often not. A vegan diet can be very healthy. If we compare two meals prepared in a domestic setting with fresh ingredients, the vegan one will often be healthier because it is likely to contain more vegetables and less saturated fat. But many modern vegan foods, like sausage rolls and burgers, are seen as healthier than their meat equivalent, whereas I’d say they’re just as bad. They’re high in salt, often high in sugar and fat, and contain additives that, according to some evidence, are harmful.”

Being vegan is good for the environment

TRUE
“The science is clear,” says Rob Percival, head of policy at the Soil Association and author of The Meat Paradox. “The average vegan diet does less harm to the environment than the average omnivorous diet, and will typically have a smaller land use footprint and contribute less to global heating.” What about fruits and vegetables grown on deforested land, like coconut, soy, avocados and almonds? “Fruits and vegetables can, in the wrong context, exhaust soils, exacerbate water shortages and rely on fossil energy.”

Nonetheless, most foods in the average plant-based diet will still be comparatively environmentally friendly, he says: “Two-thirds of the meat consumed in the UK is intensively farmed, where animals live in poor conditions and are fed on crops grown using industrial agrochemicals. The waste produced often contributes to nutrient pollution, killing our rivers. The miserable conditions animals endure can lead to zoonotic diseases and antimicrobial resistance.”

Vegan food is the more ethical choice

FALSE
Not necessarily, says Alicia Kennedy, author of No Meat Required: The Cultural History and Culinary Future of Plant-Based Eating. “I think a lot about things like cashew cheese. Producing cashews often involves terrible working conditions. It’s both troubling and counterproductive that some vegans will like anything so long as it’s vegan. Human rights abuses don’t come into it.”

                                                                  Illustration by Edith Pritchett for the Guardian

Vegan food is boring

FALSE
“Plant-based eating is incredibly diverse,” says Ian Theasby, co-founder of Bosh!, a popular plant-based online channel, cookbook and food brand, who has been vegan for 10 years. “Eating out as a vegan is easier than ever – there’s been a noticeable surge in restaurants offering vegan options.”
Chef Chantelle Nicholson is famous for her plant-based cooking at Apricity in London, where menus include fig-leaf panna cotta and miso-roasted cabbage with sambal slaw. “We recently cooked at Wilderness festival”, she says. “Five of the courses in our seven-course tasting menu were totally plant-based, and I’m not sure any of the guests noticed.”

A vegan diet is bad for children

FALSE
“A well-planned vegan diet can support people at every stage of life,” says Chloe Hall of the British Dietetics Association. However, research by University College London showed that while, on average, vegan children have lower “bad” cholesterol, they are also 3-4cm shorter than their omnivorous peers, with 4-6 % lower bone density (probably due to lower calcium intake) and a higher chance of B12 deficiency.

As with all such studies, averages are useful only up to a point. Whether a child (or adult) thrives on a vegan diet is individual and contextual, depending on their openness to vegetables, legumes or tofu, and the capacity parents, carers and schools have for meal planning and prep.

Being vegan is expensive

MOSTLY FALSE
“People think eating plant-based foods means buying plant-based products, as though if you’re vegan, you have to buy Impossible burgers, Beyond sausages and vegan eggs, rather than simply eating most of the foods human beings eat anyway,” says Kennedy.

Recent research by Which? showed that many supermarkets charge a premium for their plant-based versions of ready-made foods, with vegan sausages costing up to twice as much as meat, burgers 20p-30p more per 100g and vegan mayo up to 50% more. “That does a disservice to veganism and gives it a reputation for being expensive and inaccessible.” Some vegans report needing to eat more, and more often, which can get expensive. There are dozens of Reddit threads from new vegans asking for advice on how to feel full.

Plant milks are bad for you

FALSE
“Plant milks do have a hierarchy,” says Sharma. “If you’re looking for those that most resemble cow’s milk in terms of protein, soy is the best. The level of processing varies – some are made with just water plus the bean, grain, seed or nut, but others will contain additional ingredients such as sweeteners, flavours and stabilisers. None of these is bad for you, but limit your intake of those with added sugars.”

Pets can easily be fed vegan food

UNCLEAR
While dogs are omnivores, cats are obligate carnivores: they can digest plants, but can’t get all the nutrients they need from them. “Research suggests it’s not possible to form a complete vegan or vegetarian diet for cats,” says Anna Judson, president of the British Veterinary Association.

Regulators recently gave permission for a company called Meatly to put its lab-grown meat in pet food for the first time.

Vegans need to take supplements

FALSE
“A vegan diet is likely to be low in vitamin B12, iodine and selenium, so it is important to eat foods fortified with these or to supplement in adequate amounts,” says Hall. B12 is found in fortified cereals, iodine in seaweed and selenium in brazil nuts, tofu and some legumes.

“Iron from plants is not efficiently absorbed by the body, so with a poorly planned vegan diet, a lower intake is more likely,” says Sharma. “But our bodies are good at adjusting, and the less we have stored in the body the more we can absorb from food.”

Calcium is another worry: Hall says vegans should eat plenty of “calcium-fortified plant-based dairy alternatives, calcium-set tofu, fortified breads and cereals, and vegetables like okra and watercress.”

Female vegans should be careful about soy

PROBABLY FALSE
In the late 1990s, concerns started to grow about the potential oestrogenic and anti-oestrogenic effects of soy isoflavones, particularly in relation to breast cancer and mainly after animal and in vitro studies. Studies and counter studies on humans have since looked at its effect on cholesterol, heart health, dementia, the thyroid and cancer. The consensus today is that eating soy is probably not linked to breast cancer, and may even be protective; that any hormonal impacts (which are still not well understood) depend on the amount of oestrogen already in your body, and your age; and that any impact on health will still be either positive or neutral.

“So the opposite may be true,” says Hall. “Some research that looks at soy during menopause, has indicated that it may help to reduce hot flushes and the risk of osteoporosis.”

Vegans can’t drink beer or wine

FALSE
“If this were true, I would be gutted,” says Sharma. “Fortunately, it’s not. A lot of beer, cider and wine is filtered using fish bones or swim bladders, egg whites or gelatine, but there are many vegan alcoholic drinks, and they’re getting much easier to find – thank goodness.” Vegan drinks generally say so on the label (almost all spirits are vegan).

Vegan leather is the most sustainable choice

IT’S COMPLICATED
Although vegan leather has a lower carbon footprint, it’s often made from plastics like polyurethane or PVC. Some critics say the reframing of petroleum-based materials as greener than natural ones has been one of fast fashion’s greatest achievements. That said, animal leather production has a high carbon footprint and causes water pollution, but then plastic leather doesn’t biodegrade and can release microplastics.

One solution could be plant-based leathers, made from pineapple, mango, cactus or corn, but they’re so new there’s little data on their sustainability, and they can be expensive. Better maybe to reuse (rather than recycle) existing materials: Inflatable Amnesty makes colourful totes and bumbags from pool toys and paddling pools; Crackpacs turns old tents and adventure gear into backpacks; and Elvis & Kresse uses old fire engine hoses and leather discards (from Burberry) to make high-end laptop cases, wallets and belts.

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2024/sep/28/vegan-plant-based-myths-busted-by-experts