👶🏻 Baby food’s hidden plastic problem

A new Greenpeace investigation found microplastics in every tested sample of baby food pouches from Nestlé and Danone, raising uncomfortable questions about what convenience packaging might really be serving up. Researchers found thousands of microplastic particles per pouch in some cases, with evidence suggesting the packaging itself could be part of the problem.

That’s especially concerning given babies’ developing bodies are more vulnerable to chemical exposure, while scientists are still untangling the long-term health effects of microplastics. And with squeeze pouches now one of the fastest-growing formats in baby food, this quickly becomes bigger than a packaging issue.

This week in FoodTech:

🤝🏼 InfiniteRoots acquires Bosque Foods 
🤖 $12M for allO to roll out AI-powered “digital restaurant employees”
🧀 How do you feel about mac & cheesecake?

And also 🎧 Hugo Rauch host of the New Wave podcast, released the first two episodes recorded at the HackSummit 2026 with our speakers Renaud Visage and Patrick Möller. 

The Digest

🚜 The EU Council has agreed to suspend customs tariffs for one year on key nitrogen-based fertilisers such as urea and ammonia, aiming to cut costs for farmers, diversify supply chains and reduce reliance on Russia and Belarus. 

📝 The European Commission has opened public consultation on its proposed Biotech Act II, expected in Q4 2026, with fermentation, cultivated biomass and biomanufacturing companies urging clearer, harmonised EU regulation to support novel proteins, precision fermentation and industrial biotech scale-up.

🌾 GFI India says that India’s underused indigenous “orphan crops” could reduce reliance on soy and pea proteins and build a domestic plant-protein supply chain, calling for investment in breeding, genomics, AI-led trait discovery, processing infrastructure and public-private partnerships. 

🇧🇷 Brazil has drafted a WHO proposal, backed by France, Mexico and Uruguay, calling on countries to restrict ultra-processed food marketing and potentially sales to children, including in schools and digital channels, as part of a wider push to reduce children’s exposure to UPFs. 

🐟 A new global study suggests fishery-photovoltaic integration could generate solar power alongside fish and shrimp farming, with elevated panels over ponds and tidal flats potentially delivering 856GW of capacity, 1,266.5TWh of annual electricity and nearly 580 million tonnes of CO₂ reductions.

New in Funding

🍎 Phytolon raised $23.6 million Series B funding in a round led by an undisclosed strategic investor, with Millennium Foodtech, NextGen Nutrition, Colorcon Ventures and Yossi Ackerman participating, to commercialise its yeast-fermented natural food colours, starting with FDA-approved beetroot red dye.

🇮🇳 India’s StrainX Bioworks secured $13 million from Prime Venture Partners, Leo Capital, Good Startup, Sparrow Capital, Sun Icon Ventures, Dholakia Ventures and WindT Angels to further develop its precision fermentation platform for high-value nutritional and flavour ingredients.

🤖 Munich-based allO raised €12 million in a Series A funding round led by Zigg Capital, with participation from LifeX Ventures, Aperture Capital and Wecken & Cie, to expand its AI-native restaurant operating system across Europe and roll out AI-powered “digital employees” that automate restaurant workflows. 

🐮 Monil, based in Norway, secured $10 million from Firda and other Norwegian VC investors to expand its solar-powered cattle collar virtual fencing and livestock monitoring platform into the US, alongside a rollout of heat and calving detection features.

🍗 Germany’s Pacifico Biolabs raised €7 million Series A funding from Stray Dog Capital, TFGS, Sprout & About Ventures, Simon Capital, FoodLabs and a regional brewery partner to scale its beer-tank fermentation platform for whole-cut mycelium chicken alternatives, with the aim of securing commercial partnerships across Germany, Austria, Switzerland and the Nordics by late 2026.

🇨🇦 Canada’s NS/TX Industries secured backing for a $15.1 million project, including $4.9 million from Protein Industries Canada, to scale its whole-cut plant-based meat and seafood platform using Canadian pea, fava and soy proteins.

🍠 Rootsii, based in the US, received $1.82 million in grant funding from NCInnovation to turn surplus sweet potatoes into naturally sweet plant-based milk, with funds supporting consumer testing, shelf-life validation, and production scaling.

🚜 Danish agtech startup PerPlant secured €1 million from private angel investors and agricultural and retail industry leaders, alongside support from the Export and Investment Fund of Denmark, the European Space Agency and Innovation Fund Denmark, to scale its AI-powered tractor-mounted camera and sensor technology that enables precision spraying and real-time field monitoring.

🐟 Oshi, the seafood alternative startup, raised over $125,000 in less than 48 hours through its Wefunder crowdfunding campaign, backed by investors including Björn Öste, co-founder of Oatly. The round is still open for those looking to invest early alongside industry veterans.

New in Startups

🤝🏼 Germany-based InfiniteRoots has acquired Bosque Foods to add solid-state fermentation, whole-cut product development and process-data expertise to its mycelium platform.

✅ Israel’s Amai Proteins has secured approval in Singapore for Sweelin, its precision-fermented, calorie-free sweet protein, enabling it to commercialise the sugar alternative across food and drink products in the city-state and expand partnerships across Asia-Pacific.

🦌 Munich-based MyriaMeat has cultivated functional roe deer muscle cells using its iPSC platform, extending its patented cultivated-meat technology beyond pork and demonstrating its potential to create premium wild-game meats.

👨🏻‍🍳 Chef José Andrés is serving San Francisco-based Wildtype’s cultivated salmon at Barmini in Washington, D.C., helping showcase FDA-approved cell-cultured seafood as a sustainable, slaughter-free alternative to conventional salmon.

Plant-Based

🇨🇳 Oatly launched high-fibre oat milk and low-GI oat cream in China, using fibre, clean-label and functional health positioning to address national fibre deficiency, appeal to wellness-focused consumers and help reverse weak Greater China sales.

🇦🇺 US plant-based chicken brand Daring Foods, now owned by Australia’s v2food, has launched its original and Cajun vegan chicken pieces in Woolworths stores nationwide.

🥛 T. Hasegawa USA launched Hasemilk, a dairy-free powdered flavour technology designed to help manufacturers replicate real milk taste, aroma and mouthfeel in dairy-free, plant-based and reduced-dairy products while improving creaminess, masking off-notes and supporting more flexible, cost-effective formulation. 

😢 Meat-free fast-casual restaurant chain Clover Food Lab is closing all 11 locations after 17 years, having failed to find a buyer following bankruptcy, rising ingredient costs and challenging restaurant margins.

Big Food

🥩 Cargill is using its AI-powered CarVe platform across beef processing plants to give operators real-time cutting feedback, helping recover thousands of pounds of edible meat that would otherwise go to rendering while improving yields and reducing food waste. 

🍫 France’s Soufflet Malt and Ferments du Futur launched an 18-month research partnership to develop cocoa alternatives from sprouted grains using solid-state malt fermentation, with the project focused on reproducing cocoa-like flavours, screening microbial strains and scaling production through a new four-ton pre-industrial demonstrator.

🇮🇳 ADM has partnered with TechnoServe on an 18-month project to help 15,000 soybean farmers in Maharashtra, India adopt regenerative practices, improve soil health, access digital tools and government guidance, and strengthen climate resilience and livelihoods.

👶🏻 Greenpeace International has reported finding microplastics in Nestlé’s Gerber and Danone’s Happy Baby Organics baby food pouches, and is urging manufacturers to investigate contamination, phase out plastic packaging and move to reusable, plastic-free alternatives.

🧀 Kraft Heinz Canada launched KD Mac & Cheesecake, a limited-edition sweet-and-savoury cheesecake made with Kraft Dinner cheese seasoning

From the Community

🙌 The High Protein revolution is here. Join our next FoodHack Meetup in Dubai on June 9th.

🌱 The ProVeg Incubator has opened applications for the second cohort of its Fast-track to Impact programme, a three-month, equity-free initiative for early-stage alt protein startups.

🌞 Just for fun: How our summers have changed…

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Until next time - Stay Hungry