Food Substitute Battle (1 Viewer)
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WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Climate change is stressing rainforests where the highly sensitive cocoa bean grows, but chocolate lovers need not despair, say companies that are researching other ways to grow cocoa or develop cocoa substitutes.
Scientists and entrepreneurs are working on ways to make more cocoa that stretch well beyond the tropics, from Northern California to Israel.
California Cultured, a plant cell culture company, is growing cocoa from cell cultures at a facility in West Sacramento, California, with plans to start selling its products next year.
It puts cocoa bean cells in a vat with sugar water so they reproduce quickly and reach maturity in a week rather than the six to eight months a traditional harvest takes, said Alan Perlstein, the company’s chief executive. The process also no longer requires as much water or arduous labor……
Planet A Foods in Planegg, Germany, contends the taste of mass market chocolate is derived largely from the fermentation and roasting in making it, not the cocoa bean itself.
The company’s founders tested out ingredients ranging from olives to seaweed and settled on a mix of oats and sunflower seeds as the best tasting chocolate alternative, said Jessica Karch, a company spokesperson. They called it “ChoViva” and it can be subbed into baked goods, she said.
“The idea is not to replace the high quality, 80% dark chocolate, but really to have a lot of different products in the mass market,” Karch said.…….
apnews.com
Scientists and entrepreneurs are working on ways to make more cocoa that stretch well beyond the tropics, from Northern California to Israel.
California Cultured, a plant cell culture company, is growing cocoa from cell cultures at a facility in West Sacramento, California, with plans to start selling its products next year.
It puts cocoa bean cells in a vat with sugar water so they reproduce quickly and reach maturity in a week rather than the six to eight months a traditional harvest takes, said Alan Perlstein, the company’s chief executive. The process also no longer requires as much water or arduous labor……
Planet A Foods in Planegg, Germany, contends the taste of mass market chocolate is derived largely from the fermentation and roasting in making it, not the cocoa bean itself.
The company’s founders tested out ingredients ranging from olives to seaweed and settled on a mix of oats and sunflower seeds as the best tasting chocolate alternative, said Jessica Karch, a company spokesperson. They called it “ChoViva” and it can be subbed into baked goods, she said.
“The idea is not to replace the high quality, 80% dark chocolate, but really to have a lot of different products in the mass market,” Karch said.…….
Companies are crafting new ways to grow cocoa, and chocolate alternatives, to keep up with demand
From California to Israel, companies are aiming to grow cocoa beyond the tropics in a bid to buffer chocolate's key ingredient from climate change.
apnews.com
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At a seaside restaurant near the docks in Fredrikstad, Norway, there’s a selection of delicious looking entrees sitting in front of me.
There is a cheesy lasagne, a savoury Mexican casserole, and a spicy chilli con carne. Biting in to each one in turn, I savour the familiar taste of ground beef. Or is it?
The dishes come from Pronofa Asa, a Scandinavian company whose purpose is to make new and sustainable protein sources.
In 2022, it acquired the Swedish research company Marine Taste and expanded on its work turning ciona – or “sea squirts” to you and me – into mincemeat.
The dishes in Fredrikstad were prototypes, but Pronofa plans to have its mincemeat on supermarket shelves in Norway and Sweden before the end of the year, it says, and will aim to expand throughout Europe in the coming years.
Ciona is naturally rich in proteins, and can be used as an alternative feed for fish or animals as well as people.
“The sea squirt is the only organism that produces 100% pure cellulose,” says Hans Petter Olsen, the CEO of Pronofa. “So there are some fibres in the meat and we had to work on how to process them so the mouthfeel would be similar to meat.”
Pronofa, and a number of companies like it, are developing alternative protein sources for kitchen tables around the world, which have a minimal carbon footprint but that taste like family favourites. The Food Standards Agency said in October that cell-cultivated meat could be on sale in the UK within a few years. Cultivated chicken was approved for sale to consumers in Singapore in 2020 and in the US in 2023 and cultivated steak was approved in Israel in 2024. Scores of companies around the world are developing similar products, including using pork and fish.
Ciona are umami flavoured, but naturally have a slight seafood taste and a texture reminiscent of calamari. There are no additives – this transformation to “fake meat” is accomplished simply by the way that the company processes the sea squirt, says Olsen.………
www.theguardian.com
There is a cheesy lasagne, a savoury Mexican casserole, and a spicy chilli con carne. Biting in to each one in turn, I savour the familiar taste of ground beef. Or is it?
The dishes come from Pronofa Asa, a Scandinavian company whose purpose is to make new and sustainable protein sources.
In 2022, it acquired the Swedish research company Marine Taste and expanded on its work turning ciona – or “sea squirts” to you and me – into mincemeat.
The dishes in Fredrikstad were prototypes, but Pronofa plans to have its mincemeat on supermarket shelves in Norway and Sweden before the end of the year, it says, and will aim to expand throughout Europe in the coming years.
Ciona is naturally rich in proteins, and can be used as an alternative feed for fish or animals as well as people.
“The sea squirt is the only organism that produces 100% pure cellulose,” says Hans Petter Olsen, the CEO of Pronofa. “So there are some fibres in the meat and we had to work on how to process them so the mouthfeel would be similar to meat.”
Pronofa, and a number of companies like it, are developing alternative protein sources for kitchen tables around the world, which have a minimal carbon footprint but that taste like family favourites. The Food Standards Agency said in October that cell-cultivated meat could be on sale in the UK within a few years. Cultivated chicken was approved for sale to consumers in Singapore in 2020 and in the US in 2023 and cultivated steak was approved in Israel in 2024. Scores of companies around the world are developing similar products, including using pork and fish.
Ciona are umami flavoured, but naturally have a slight seafood taste and a texture reminiscent of calamari. There are no additives – this transformation to “fake meat” is accomplished simply by the way that the company processes the sea squirt, says Olsen.………
‘It should not taste marine-like’: Would you eat a burger made from processed sea squirts?
Odd-looking marine creatures called ciona are naturally rich in protein and one company aims to farm and process them for the table
mambodeath
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No. I wouldn't eat a burger made from squirts. Aside from the middle school jokes (they will invariably make them so that I don't have to) I barely eat burgers as it is. Nothing's wrong with it. I just rarely eat that stuff, so I likely won't eat something trying to mimic it.At a seaside restaurant near the docks in Fredrikstad, Norway, there’s a selection of delicious looking entrees sitting in front of me.
There is a cheesy lasagne, a savoury Mexican casserole, and a spicy chilli con carne. Biting in to each one in turn, I savour the familiar taste of ground beef. Or is it?
The dishes come from Pronofa Asa, a Scandinavian company whose purpose is to make new and sustainable protein sources.
In 2022, it acquired the Swedish research company Marine Taste and expanded on its work turning ciona – or “sea squirts” to you and me – into mincemeat.
The dishes in Fredrikstad were prototypes, but Pronofa plans to have its mincemeat on supermarket shelves in Norway and Sweden before the end of the year, it says, and will aim to expand throughout Europe in the coming years.
Ciona is naturally rich in proteins, and can be used as an alternative feed for fish or animals as well as people.
“The sea squirt is the only organism that produces 100% pure cellulose,” says Hans Petter Olsen, the CEO of Pronofa. “So there are some fibres in the meat and we had to work on how to process them so the mouthfeel would be similar to meat.”
Pronofa, and a number of companies like it, are developing alternative protein sources for kitchen tables around the world, which have a minimal carbon footprint but that taste like family favourites. The Food Standards Agency said in October that cell-cultivated meat could be on sale in the UK within a few years. Cultivated chicken was approved for sale to consumers in Singapore in 2020 and in the US in 2023 and cultivated steak was approved in Israel in 2024. Scores of companies around the world are developing similar products, including using pork and fish.
Ciona are umami flavoured, but naturally have a slight seafood taste and a texture reminiscent of calamari. There are no additives – this transformation to “fake meat” is accomplished simply by the way that the company processes the sea squirt, says Olsen.………
‘It should not taste marine-like’: Would you eat a burger made from processed sea squirts?
Odd-looking marine creatures called ciona are naturally rich in protein and one company aims to farm and process them for the table
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You don’t have to swallow, you can just spit the squirt out
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