Business Bites: RFK Jr. vows to end FDA corruption, may face roadblocks from Trump

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is raising funds and eyebrows with promises to “Make America Healthy Again,” suggesting that FDA is "making our kids sick" by ignoring ingredients banned in many other countries.

In related news, Food ingredients (Fi) Europe is celebrating innovative ingredients with its 2024 Startup Innovation Challenge, which featured groundbreaking fat alternatives, protein replacements and more. And Nestlé has unveiled sweeping plans to cut costs while revamping its global business strategy.

All that and more in this week’s Business Bites.

RFK promises shakeups at critical food agencies

As reported by Josh Long over at sister site SupplySide Supplement Journal, the Center for Food Safety (CFS) has come out in cautious support of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as President-elect Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), citing Kennedy’s critiques of the industrial food system and desire to reform agencies like FDA, which he has long criticized for corruption and lax regulations. While CFS agrees with Kennedy’s call for greater oversight, it questions whether his goals align with Trump’s record of support for corporate agriculture interests. Also worth noting: Both Kennedy and the Center for Food Safety have come under fire in the past for allegedly spreading anti-science misinformation. But we are talking about the Make America Healthy Again movement, which insists we return to the healthier ways of yesteryear while ignoring all that pesky data about life expectancy.

Related:3 tips for labeling, claims from Ivan Wasserman – video

Fi Europe announces food innovation winners

The 2024 Startup Innovation Challenge, held Nov. 18-19 at Food ingredients (Fi) Europe in Frankfurt, Germany, crowned five winners that showcased groundbreaking solutions in food and beverage.

Perfat Technologies won Most Innovative Food or Beverage Ingredient for its oleogel-based fat alternative, while Fabumin earned Most Innovative Plant-Based Ingredient for an aquafaba powder that can replace eggs while promoting sustainability in pulse processing. Yeastime received Most Innovative Foodtech Solution for ultrasound-based technology that accelerates yeast fermentation, and Natural Trace secured Most Innovative Digital Solution for its DNA-based bio barcodes. Finally, Akoua was awarded Most Innovative Sustainable Solution for upcycling cashew apples into juice.

“When I saw their pitches today [at the Startup Challenge award ceremony], I was overwhelmed [by] the creativity and the desire and the ability to change the world,” Adi Yehezkeli, CEO and co-founder of Fabumin, told Fi Global Insights. “To be considered as one of them is quite amazing.”

Related:Business Bites: Cereal killer? Kellogg’s heiress speaks out against family company

Nestlé to cut billions, create separate business for beverages

Seeking to reduce costs by at least $2.8 billion by 2027 is just the beginning of Nestlé’s new strategy, which also involves reinvesting into marketing and innovation to drive growth. CEO Laurent Freixe, appointed earlier this year, is restructuring the company to simplify operations, address underperformance and prioritize product launches, which could also involve spinning off its water and premium beverages division into a standalone unit in 2025 — perhaps to pave the way for a sale, perhaps to stave off more controversy. With demand continuing to decline as consumers are forced to further tighten their belts, the company is looking to target highly lucrative sectors like coffee, pet food and health products.

Protein powder forged from air and lightning debuts in U.S.

Finnish food tech company Solar Foods has launched an innovative, versatile new protein powder called Solein stateside after attaining self-affirmed GRAS (generally recognized as safe) status. The ingredient, which debuted in Singapore in 2022, is made from microbes cultivated using electricity and carbon dioxide and can replace proteins in foods like dairy and meat alternatives. Thanks to its sustainability and adaptability, Solein has widespread applications, including space missions, which seems like a niche market to me. But in a world where a known anti-vaccine advocate can be nominated as the secretary of human health, who knows? Maybe Elon Musk will be “promoted” to four-star general in charge of Space Force, and we’ll all be sailing the stars just in time for dinner. Speaking of dinner, the U.S. rollout of Solein begins in collaboration with New York's Olmsted restaurant, where it will feature prominently in several dishes.

Related:FDA reorganizes, modernizes with Unified Human Foods Program

New Dairy Grazing Alliance could boost sector growth

At the Sustainable Agriculture Summit, held Nov. 20-21 in Minneapolis, stakeholders across the dairy industry united to form the Dairy Grazing Alliance. Their goal? To grow the sector and expand pasture-raised dairy production. This alliance also includes a Dairy Grazing Apprenticeship program, and with all this talk about grazing, I’m pretty sure some of those stakeholders were actually cows. And those cows should be called steakholders.

In all seriousness, the Dairy Grazing Alliance aims to build new markets, boost farm profitability, and enhance technical and financial support for managed grazing operations. According to the organization’s press release, consumer demand for grass-fed dairy is expected to rise by 22.4% globally in the next decade. As such, the Alliance hopes to increase U.S. production through partnerships with farmers, research institutions and major brands. If you know anything about the climate impacts of the dairy industry, this might alarm you, but the Alliance also plans to champion dairy grazing as a climate solution, stating in its press release that “managed dairy grazing is a significant tool in the U.S. dairy industry’s toolbox of effective climate solutions.”

I’ll just leave this here.

Business Bites will be taking a break for Thanksgiving. We’ll be back on Dec. 9.