Interest in plant-based proteins has been taking off rapidly in the last 12 months as the numbers of consumers adopting vegan, vegetarian or flexitarian diets rises. Consumers have become increasingly aware of the link between dietary choice and climate change and this has become a primary concern for many. Food companies are responding to this opportunity by investigating new and traditional sources of plant protein to try to meet the burgeoning demand for meat free alternatives. When developing new plant protein alternatives to meat products, it is important to ensure that functional, nutritional and sustainability attributes are delivered and that supply chain issues are considered at an early stage (p18). New metrics have been developed to assess the sustainability of new protein sources during new product development (p18). Pea protein ingredients have a wide range of applications, including as alternatives to dairy proteins and as meat substitutes (p26). They have a lower cost than dairy proteins and can offer additional nutritional benefits, for example in satiety and weight management (p26). New plant protein products must also deliver on taste. When the food industry uses, for example, pea proteins in sweet products, there can be a strong and unpleasant off-note that needs to be reduced using masking flavours (p26, p29). Microalgae are a relatively new source of plant proteins and have the advantages that they can be produced in reactors on non-fertile land and can efficiently fix CO2 from the atmosphere or from waste sources (p22). Some microalga strains contain very high concentrations of protein; they offer great potental for the future. A variety of sources of plant protein are taking off as meat and dairy alternatives. Shifting towards more flexitarian diets could help to reduce pressure on land and carbon emissions from intensive livestock production. email mb@biophase.co.uk Letters to the editor about any of the articles published in Food Science and Technology are welcomed. The rise in veganism and flexitarian diets requires products to be free from animal-based ingredients. The food industry is responding by seeking to develop or reformulate products with plant-based protein ingredients. Campden BRI has begun research into developing techniques to help the food industry produce cost-effective protein-rich ingredients from plants1. As a precursor to the technical research, Campden BRI surveyed members of the food and drink industry to establish what their biggest challenges were when using plant-based proteins in their products. Common responses included concerns over protein content, quality, increased ingredient or processing costs, longer ingredients lists and the potentially unpleasant taste of plant-based proteins. However, protein functionality was their overriding concern. Protein functionality plays a key role in product development and consumer appeal. Egg, for example, is a unique multi-functional ingredient that is used for aeration, emulsification, enriching, colour, shine and structure formation. Replacing this ingredient is, understandably, difficult for manufacturers. However, according to Ingredients research team leader, Tiia Morsky, work at Campden has found that pulses - such as peas, beans and lentils – display great functional properties with significantly higher foam expansion and foam volume stability when compared to egg white proteins. The research will compare different processing techniques and parameters, such as equipment, time and temperature, to understand the impact they have on yield and protein functionality. The project then aims to optimise the nutritional value and technical performance of these ingredients – providing manufacturers with more plant-based protein options. Common sources of plant proteins are pea, soy and gluten, but these come with concerns over allergies, impact on flavour and sustainability. Campden is looking into protein derived from microalgae, a relatively new ingredient, and chickpeas, which are widely availability and scored well in a consumer survey. Over the next two years the project will assess more plant-based ingredients to determine how they perform in meat and dairy alternatives and bakery products. A new joint venture project plans to create an integrated technology system to make Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) more effective, efficient and sustainable2. The partnership, co-funded by Innovate UK (the UK's innovation agency), includes CEA experts Liberty Produce, a farming technology company, Crop Health and Protection (CHAP), FOTENIX and Iceni Labs. The project is aiming to reduce CEA operational costs by 25%, improve crop yield by 30% and reduce necessary grower intervention through improved decision support and automation in lighting, nutrient and environmental control technologies. Work being carried out at CHAP's Fine Phenotyping Lab, based at Rothamsted Research, is assessing ways in which plants react to light throughout the day, determining how to activate and make them most receptive to light, particularly through the manipulation of wavelength and light intensity. Researchers have already found evidence that a plant's photosynthetic response to light levels off and reaches saturation. Within CEA systems, avoiding the unnecessary application of light is crucial in reducing operational costs and making systems more sustainable. Crops growing in the IHCEA facility. Liberty Produce 2019 As the new technologies are developed, they will be evaluated at the IHCEA facility, a vertical farming commercial demonstrator established by Liberty Produce in partnership with CHAP and located at the James Hutton Institute, in Dundee, Scotland. Loughborough University computer scientists have teamed up with a food production automation company, Millitec Food Systems, to teach AI robots how to differentiate between food items so they can make sandwiches in real-world factory environments3. The project is jointly funded by Millitec and Innovate UK. Food manufacturing is the largest manufacturing industry within Europe, but the industry faces major problems with labour supply due to increased costs and a shortage of workers willing to undertake less-skilled roles. Millitec has developed a range of robotic products for food production automation that can assemble and pack sandwiches to reduce the intensive labour required on production conveyors. Their current sandwich-assemblers are able to butter bread and cut sandwiches, but are unable to undertake tasks that require them to differentiate between items, such as selecting salad toppings to put inside a sandwich. The collaborative project with Loughborough University is aiming to take the robotic technology to the next level of intelligence. Millitec's Delta robot The researchers will then develop algorithms that train the robots to recognise various breads and food ingredients The researchers will then develop algorithms that train the robots to recognise various breads and food ingredients and accurately detect their location and orientation. The algorithms will use ‘deep learning’ – a method of teaching a machine how to carry out tasks automatically without explicit human instructions. This involves a computer system analysing thousands of images, so it learns what different items look like. As well as being taught how to identify food items, the Millitec robots will be trained to spot and deal with errors on production conveyors, such as missing ingredients or items in the wrong position. The technology will be deployed as an embedded system on Millitec's existing automation machines, meaning the prepacked sandwich you purchase from the petrol station in the near future could have been made from start to finish by robots. Successful development and commercialisation of the robotics system could significantly reduce the human workforce and improve production quality and efficiency, allowing employees to focus on higher-value activities. Globally, over one third of food produced across the whole food chain is wasted. In the UK, 51% of the food wasted is lost before it even reaches consumers, during either the agriculture, post-harvest, distribution or processing stages. A significant proportion of food loss relates to the inherent physiology of the crops, poor control of post-harvest biology and the efficacy and appropriateness of the control systems applied. A new three-year £500k UK network that aims to use bioscience research to address this significant food loss has been launched by UKRI's Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC)4. The objective is to cut food waste and improve quality in horticultural and potato crops. Jointly-led by Prof Carol Wagstaff from the University of Reading and Prof Leon Terry from Cranfield University, the network will stimulate links between academics and industry, attract a new cohort of early career researchers and commission a diverse range of projects. Membership is free and open to all researchers throughout the UK, who will be able to apply for funds to pump-prime new collaborations that develop research ideas and solutions with relevance to industry. Its outputs should attract researchers from multiple disciplines to apply novel expertise to the challenges facing businesses from across the entire supply-chain while developing the next generation of researchers to address food security. Two new reports from WRAP (Waste and Resources Action Programme) – The Courtauld Commitment 2025 Milestone Progress Report and UK progress against the Courtauld Commitment 2025 and UN Sustainable Development Goal 12.3 – set out the progress that has been made by the food and drink sector against the voluntary agreement's targets5. The latter report also provides information on the UK's contribution to achieving UN Sustainable Development Goal 12.3 to halve food waste by 2030. Also highlighted are best practice activities across the sector to reduce food waste, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and pressures on water. The reports describe a 7% reduction in food waste (480,000 tonnes), 7% reduction in GHG emissions (7.1m tonnes CO2e) and collective action projects targeting water scarcity. Foodprint, a University of Nottingham student-led social enterprise which saves and sells food that supermarkets would otherwise throw away, has won an award from Universities 21 (U21), a leading global network of universities6. U21 is a global body that works to improve student experience and share best practice in research and educational innovation. The RISE (Real Impact on Society and Environment) award opportunity is designed to showcase student-led projects and is inspired by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Businesses from 16 student enterprises from U21 institutions all over the world competed for the prize. As winners of the Impact category, Foodprint will gain international exposure and a global network of expert mentors and supporters. Foodprint student volunteers Foodprint opened in 2017 with support from Nottingham City Council and now has hundreds of regular customers; it provides food to around 600 people every week through its wider delivery network. It is a social enterprise that saves food supermarkets would otherwise throw away, but is still perfectly good to eat, from going to landfill. It sells this food at greatly-reduced prices in a store in Sneinton, ensuring everyone can afford high-quality, nutritious food. Revenues from the shop subsidise its redistribution network, which delivers surplus food to local homeless shelters, food banks, community projects and school breakfast clubs every week. Foodprint is also a valuable community hub, providing a social area, books, clothing and household items. The store and redistribution network are operated by a large body of volunteers, many from the local community, who receive training to help them into employment, and others from both of Nottingham's universities. As part of a drive to increase the circular economy and tackle the problem of packaging waste, Veolia is launching a Sustainable Packaging Academy designed to close the link between producers and recyclers7. This new initiative will provide businesses with the opportunity to better understand packaging circularity and future-proof packaging design. The first of its kind, Veolia's Sustainable Packaging Academy provides a new route for industry to achieve a real circular economy for all types of packaging and ensure materials can be easily collected, recycled and returned to industry for reuse. This approach brings in the consumer experience, waste collection, processing and end market realities to help provide the best advice on overcoming the challenges. Tour of Southwark recycling facility DIARY 25 March 2020 THE FUTURE OF THE UK FOOD SUPPLY CHAIN – REGULATION, SUSTAINABILITY AND FAIRNESS Venue London Web westminsterforumprojects.co.uk/conference/food-regualtion-20 30 March-1 April FOODEX 20 Venue NEC Birmingham Web foodex.co.uk/ 1 April 2020 IFST SPRING CONFERENCE (SC20): THE APPLIANCE OF FOOD SCIENCE Venue Imperial College London Web ifst.org/events 20-21 April 2020 23RD EURO-GLOBAL SUMMIT ON FOOD AND BEVERAGES Venue: Berlin, Germany Web: https://europe.foodtechconferences.org/call-for-abstracts.php 23-24 April 2020 WTO INTERNATIONAL FORUM ON FOOD SAFETY AND TRADE Venue Geneva, Switzerland Web who.int/news-room/events/international-food-safety-conference 15-18 June 2020 4TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON GLOBAL FOOD SECURITY – ACHIEVING LOCAL AND GLOBAL FOOD SECURITY: AT WHAT COSTS? Venue Montpellier, France Web hlobalfoodsecurityconference.com/ 18-19 June 2020 2ND INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON FOOD AND NUTRITION Venue Berlin, Germany Web food.scitechconferences.com/ 24-25 June 2020 FOOD TECH MATTERS Venue The Crystal, London Web foodtechmatters.com/ 12-15 July 2020 IFT20 ANNUAL EVENT & FOOD EXPO Venue Chicago, Illinois Web ift.org/events/annual-event-and-food-expocalender?vid=134