Latest from Food Politics: What's happening to Beyond Meat?

I’ve been writing about Beyond Meat’s financial troubles since at least 2022, so the latest problems come as no surprise. Beyond Meat, you will recall, makes plant-based meat alternatives: nutrition powerhouses, clean protein, fiber essential for ...

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By Marion Nestle April 15 2026 What’s happening to Beyond Meat? I’ve been writing about Beyond Meat’s financial troubles since at least 2022, so the latest problems come as no surprise. Beyond Meat, you will recall, makes plant-based meat alternatives: nutrition powerhouses, clean protein, fiber essential for the gut microbiome. Recently, Beyond Meat announced that it would be moving into beverages—“a logical move—and not an admission of defeat—after another grim quarter.” Grim quarter?  Indeed yes (thanks to Steve Zwick for sending) As another commentator points out: 1. Beyond Meat has never made a profit. 2. Each $1 of product it sold in 2025 cost it $1.95 to make. 3. That’s a dramatic change since 2024, when each $1 of product it sold cost $1.32 to make. 4. It has $1.2 billion of accumulated losses on its balance sheet. In the meantime, according to USDA, the per capita availability of red meat has increased by 10 pounds since 2014 and is now 105 pounds per capita per year or roughly a third of a pound a day for every man, woman, and baby in the country—and that’s for boneless. We would all be healthier, and so would the planet, if we ate less red meat on average.  That was the point of developing plant-based alternatives; these were supposed to substitute for real meat.  Apparently, they don’t. This means: If you want to reduce the impact of your diet on climate change, reduce your intake of red meat however works for you. The post What’s happening to Beyond Meat? appeared first on Food Politics by Marion Nestle      Related Posts Weekend reading: more on alternative meats Catching up with meat alternatives Industry-influenced conference of the week: reducing methane emissions   Now Available: What to Eat Now My new book, What to Eat Now, is officially out! It's both a field guide to food shopping in America and a reflection on how to eat well—and deliciously. For more information and to order, click here. You can explore the full archive of this (almost) daily blog at foodpolitics.com, where you'll also find information about my books, articles, media interviews, upcoming lectures, favorite resources, and FAQs. Visit the Site » ​​​​​​​ Marion Nestle Paulette Goddard Professor of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health at New York University, Emerita © Marion Nestle. You're receiving this email because you've signed up to receive updates from us. If you'd prefer not to receive updates, you can unsubscribe. Safely Unsubscribe • Archives • Preferences • Contact • Subscribe • Privacy

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Latest from Food Politics: The new microplastics initiatives: steps in the right direction

EPA, HHS Announce Historic Actions to Protect Americans from Microplastics and Safeguard Drinking Water [EPA] For the first time in the program’s history, EPA is including microplastics as a priority contaminant group in its draft Sixth Contaminant ...

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By Marion Nestle April 14 2026 The new microplastics initiatives: steps in the right direction EPA, HHS Announce Historic Actions to Protect Americans from Microplastics and Safeguard Drinking Water [EPA] For the first time in the program’s history, EPA is including microplastics as a priority contaminant group in its draft Sixth Contaminant Candidate List (CCL 6), now open for public comment. CCL 6 also includes pharmaceuticals as a group—another first—along with per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), disinfection byproducts, 75 individual chemicals, and nine microbes that may be present in public drinking water systems. [HHS] Additionally, the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) announced the launch of STOMP—Systematic Targeting of Microplastics—a first-of-its-kind nationwide initiative to build a comprehensive toolbox for measuring, researching, and removing microplastics and nanoplastics (MNPs) from the human body. STOMP takes a three-pronged approach: Measure: Deploy gold-standard detection technology to accurately quantify microplastics levels in water and human tissue. Target: Identify the most harmful plastic contaminants and determine how they enter and move through the body. Remove: Develop and validate methods to eliminate microplastics from the human body. This is a win for MAHA (Make America Healthy Again): RFK Jr has been pushing for this.  He says “Animal studies show that microplastic exposure can drive inflammation, cardiovascular damage, impaired cognition, and tumor growth.” Human studies show this too.  Here’s the latest, which correlates pre-term births to chemicals in plastics. RJK Jr also said the $144 million national program will be called STOMP, which stands for “Systemic Targeting of MicroPlastics.” The program will bring toxicologists, data scientists and other experts together to create standardized tools capable of detecting and quantifying microplastics in the human body, research the effect they have on humans, and develop targeted strategies to remove them from the body. This could be a good step forward if they actually act on it.  We shall see. The post The new microplastics initiatives: steps in the right direction appeared first on Food Politics by Marion Nestle      Related Posts Industry-funded study of the week: Kimchi   Now Available: What to Eat Now My new book, What to Eat Now, is officially out! It's both a field guide to food shopping in America and a reflection on how to eat well—and deliciously. For more information and to order, click here. You can explore the full archive of this (almost) daily blog at foodpolitics.com, where you'll also find information about my books, articles, media interviews, upcoming lectures, favorite resources, and FAQs. Visit the Site » ​​​​​​​ Marion Nestle Paulette Goddard Professor of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health at New York University, Emerita © Marion Nestle. You're receiving this email because you've signed up to receive updates from us. If you'd prefer not to receive updates, you can unsubscribe. Safely Unsubscribe • Archives • Preferences • Contact • Subscribe • Privacy

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