Are alternative proteins going mainstream? This multimillion pound new project hopes so
If I eat a burger made from crushed insects, will I notice the difference? Does it matter if my veggie sausage has been ultra-processed? Why will some people eat a prawn but not a cricket? Is lab-grown meat as nutritious as the real thing – and is it safe?
Such questions about new “alternative proteins” will be answered, it is hoped, by a new multimillion pound venture to try to get more insects, fungi, and cultivated (formerly known as “lab-grown”) meat onto our plates.
The global population is growing dramatically, and so is its appetite for animal protein like cheese, ham and burgers.
But animals raised for food can be terrible for the planet – destroying rainforests, adding to climate change and guzzling water – as well as for animal welfare and for our health in terms of fat and processing.
Keeping everyone nourished without eating up more land that’s needed to slow climate change and protects ecosystems is a dilemma that has fuelled the growth of the “alternative protein” sector.
This covers a range of proteins that need much less energy and land, including insects, fungi, algae, microbes brewed like beer, cultivated meat, and even veggie sausages made from something like mushrooms.
But the sector has hardly got off the ground – only 9% of protein sold in UK supermarkets comes from plants rather than animals, according to WWF, and cultivated meat hasn’t yet been approved for human consumption.
But alternative proteins could be worth £6.8bn a year and create 25,000 jobs by 2035, one analysis by the thinktank Green Alliance suggests, and boost food security.
That’s why the UK’s innovation agency, UKRI, has just dished out £15m to the newly formed National Alternative Protein Innovation Centre (NAPIC), launching today.
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Can British farming survive?
The collaboration between different research groups is also backed by a further £23m from other stakeholders including business, farming groups, regulators and the third sector (charities, social enterprises and community groups).
“We want to make alternative protein mainstream, for a really sustainable planet,” said Professor Anwesha Sarkar, a food material scientist from Leeds University and NAPIC project leader.
The aim is to build up more evidence about the health benefits and risks, how to keep farmers in work and how to test out what the British public will stomach.
It will also look at how to unblock barriers to getting the products onto shop shelves, like outdated regulatory systems or slow testing processes.
They hope to be the “catalyst” to scale up proteins and make the UK a “global superpower” in alternative proteins, Prof Sarkar said. The UK is striking out alone while the EU shies away from it, and Italy has even banned lab-grown meat.
But the total £38m funding a drop in the ocean of the global industry, which raised $1.6bn (£1.2bn) last year alone.
Many UK start-ups are trying their hand in the sector, with Better Dairy brewing milk protein to make cheese in a process called precision fermentation, or Oxford’s Ivy Farm taking a tiny sample of animal stem cells that it can then stimulate to make them replicate indefinitely.
But not everyone is on board already.
Some animal farmers fear yet another threat to their livelihoods, while others are worried that many alternative proteins are “ultra-processed foods” (UPFs) – a somewhat controversial term that has been the subject of much recent debate.
But it “all depends on what you are comparing it with”, said Professor Tim Spector, co-founder of the ZOE nutrition project and an expert on the health risks of ultra-processed food.
He said ultra-processed alternative proteins are “probably slightly better” for you than UP meats, because they can contain more fibre and nutrients, he said.
“Probably the choices we make on our food are the biggest single factors we can do as individuals to help our planet… so that’s why I’m generally in favour of alternate proteins.”
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It will take some years before the project starts to deliver, and it will be up to government to translate the evidence into policy and legislation.
A government spokesperson said: “Everyone should have access to a varied, healthy diet and make their own choices about what they eat.
“This government is committed to supporting a food system that produces sustainable, healthy and affordable food, while ensuring the right outcomes for consumers, farmers and food producers.”
A teenage girl who was killed after getting out of a police car on the M5 in Somerset has been named.
Tamzin Hall, 17 and from Wellington, was hit by a vehicle that was travelling southbound between junction 24 for Bridgwater and junction 25 for Taunton shortly after 11pm on Monday.
She had exited a police vehicle that had stopped on the northbound side of the motorway while transporting her.
A mandatory referral was made to the Independent Office for Police Conduct, which is now carrying out its own investigation into what happened.
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Avon and Somerset Police said: “Our thoughts and sympathies go out to Tamzin’s family for their devastating loss.
“A specially-trained family liaison officer remains in contact with them to keep them updated and to provide support.
“The family have asked for privacy at this difficult time.”
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The police watchdog, the IOPC, has been asked to investigate.
In a statement, director David Ford, said: “This was a truly tragic incident and my thoughts are with Tamzin’s family and friends and everyone affected by the events of that evening.
“We are contacting her family to express our sympathies, explain our role, and set out how our investigation will progress. We will keep them fully updated as our investigation continues.”
Paramedics attended the motorway within minutes of the girl being hit but she was pronounced dead at the scene.
The motorway was closed in both directions while investigations took place. It was fully reopened shortly after 11am on Tuesday, Nationals Highways said.
A survivors group advocating for women allegedly assaulted by Mohamed al Fayed has said it is “grateful another abuser has been unmasked”, after allegations his brother Salah also participated in the abuse.
Justice for Harrods Survivors says it has “credible evidence” suggesting the sexual abuse allegedly perpetrated at Harrods and the billionaire’s properties “was not limited to Mr al Fayed himself”.
The group’s statement comes after three women told BBC News they were sexually assaulted by al Fayed’s brother, Salah.
One woman said she was raped by Mohamed al Fayed while working at Harrods.
Helen, who has waived her right to anonymity, said she then took a job working for his brother as an escape. She alleges she was drugged and sexually assaulted while working at Salah’s home on Park Lane, London.
Two other women have told the BBC they were taken to Monaco and the South of France, where Salah sexually abused them.
Mohamed al Fayed. Pic: AP
The Justice for Harrod Survivors representatives said: “We are proud to support the survivors of Salah Fayed’s abuse and are committed to achieving justice for them, no matter what it takes.”
The group added it “looks forward to the others on whom we have credible evidence – whether abusers themselves or enablers facilitating that abuse – being exposed in due course”.
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Salah was one of the three Fayed brothers who co-owned Harrods.
The business, which was sold to Qatar Holdings when Mohamed al Fayed retired in 2010, has said it “supports the bravery of these women in coming forward”.
A statement issued by the famous store on Thursday evening continued: “We encourage these survivors to come forward and make their claims to the Harrods scheme, where they can apply for compensation, as well as support from a counselling perspective and through an independent survivor advocate.
“We also hope that they are looking at every appropriate avenue to them in their pursuit of justice, whether that be Harrods, the police or the Fayed family and estate.”
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Bianca Gascoigne speaks about Al Fayed abuse
The Justice for Harrods Survivors group previously said more than 400 people had contacted them regarding accusations about Mohamed al Fayed, who died last year.
One of those alleged to have been abused is Bianca Gascoigne, the daughter of former England player Paul.
Speaking to Sky News in October, Gascoigne said she was groomed and sexually assaulted by al Fayed when she worked at Harrods as a teenager.
UK
Wes Streeting ‘crossed the line’ by opposing assisted dying in public, says Labour peer Harriet Harman
Wes Streeting “crossed the line” by opposing assisted dying in public and the argument shouldn’t “come down to resources”, a Labour peer has said.
Speaking on Sky News’ Electoral Dysfunction podcast, Baroness Harriet Harman criticised the health secretary for revealing how he is going to vote on the matter when it comes before parliament later this month.
MPs are being given a free vote, meaning they can side with their conscience and not party lines, so the government is supposed to be staying neutral.
But Mr Streeting has made clear he will vote against legalising assisted dying, citing concerns end-of-life care is not good enough for people to make an informed choice, and that some could feel pressured into the decision to save the NHS money.
He has also ordered a review into the potential costs of changing the law, warning it could come at the expense of other NHS services if implemented.
Baroness Harman said Mr Streeting has “crossed the line in two ways”.
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“He should not have said how he was going to vote, because that breaches neutrality and sends a signal,” she said.
“And secondly… he’s said the problem is that it will cost money to bring in an assisted dying measure, and therefore he will have to cut other services.
“But paradoxically, he also said it would be a slippery slope because people will be forced to bring about their own death in order to save the NHS money. Well, it can’t be doing both things.
“It can’t be both costing the NHS money and saving the NHS money.”
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Review into assisted dying costs
Baroness Harman said the argument “should not come down to resources” as it is a “huge moral issue” affecting “only a tiny number of people”.
She added that people should not mistake Mr Streeting for being “a kind of proxy for Keir Starmer”.
“The government is genuinely neutral and all of those backbenchers, they can vote whichever way they want,” she added.
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Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has previously expressed support for assisted dying, but it is not clear how he intends to vote on the issue or if he will make his decision public ahead of time.
The cabinet has varying views on the topic, with the likes of Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood siding with Mr Streeting in her opposition but Energy Secretary Ed Miliband being for it.
Energy Security and Net Zero Secretary Ed Miliband is said to support the bill. Pic: Reuters
Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood has concerns. Pic: Reuters
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The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill is being championed by Labour backbencher Kim Leadbeater, who wants to give people with six months left to live the choice to end their lives.
Under her proposals, two independent doctors must confirm a patient is eligible for assisted dying and a High Court judge must give their approval.
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Labour MP Kim Leadbeater discusses End of Life Bill
The bill will also include punishments of up to 14 years in prison for those who break the law, including coercing someone into ending their own life.
MPs will debate and vote on the legislation on 29 November, in what will be the first Commons vote on assisted dying since 2015, when the proposal was defeated.
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