This week, Puratos announced the launch of Sapore Lavida, the first completely traceable active sourdough produced in Belgium. PepsiCo’s beverage plant in Northern Spain will become the company’s first plant globally to reach net-zero emissions by 2025. Meanwhile, the European Food Safety Authority unveiled the 2024 Safe2Eat campaign.

Puratos announced the launch of Sapore Lavida, the first completely traceable active sourdough produced in Belgium. The new ingredient is made exclusively with 100% wholewheat flour sourced from regenerative agriculture practices, enabling bakers across mainland Europe to meet growing demand for locally-produced, sustainably-sourced sourdough products. In all applications, Sapore Lavida offers a tangy flavor profile with fruity, balanced lactic and acetic notes, and it enhances fiber content in white bread. The launch also signals the start of an ongoing collaboration between Puratos and several farming cooperatives, gathering vital insights into regenerative agriculture to help improve sustainability across the wider bakery industry.

PepsiCo announced that its beverage plant in Northern Spain will become the company’s first plant globally to reach net-zero emissions by 2025. The beverage plant, in Álava Basque Country, which produces brands such as Pepsi and local brands like Kas and Bitter Kas, aims to reach net zero emissions next year, thanks to the electrification of the plant’s operations, leading to the elimination of 1,849 tons of CO2 per year. The production plant has been using electricity from renewable sources since 2015 and now, thanks to this decarbonization project, natural gas will be replaced by electric energy to reach the goal of 100% electrification of the facilities following a two-year pilot program.

Ohly developed a new Neiva range of health products that support immune health and overall well-being. These scientifically validated products provide formulators with tailored solutions for functional food, sports nutrition and dietary supplements. The range of powdered ingredients is produced using Ohly’s state-of-the-art drying technology to create a free-flowing ingredient with a narrow particle size distribution for convenience and versatility, and consistent flavor and texture.

FoodChain ID announced its approval as a certification body for GMP+ Feed Safety Assurance (FSA) certification. FoodChain ID will conduct global, independent audits for GMP+ FSA across all species of animal agriculture. The new service adds to FoodChain ID’s commitment to comprehensive certification services that strengthen the safety of animal feed production and distribution, and the subsequent food supply chain.

Tate & Lyle formally opened a new capacity at its facility in Boleráz, Slovakia, for its non-GMO Promitor Soluble Fibers. The new capacity, representing a €25 million investment, is the first phase of a program expected to significantly increase Tate & Lyle’s fiber capacity to serve its European and global customer base. The project will generate sustainability benefits through supply chain optimization and improved energy efficiency.

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and its partners in member states launched the 2024 Safe2Eat campaign. Formerly known as #EUChooseSafeFood, the campaign returns rebranded and with a renewed commitment to promote food safety awareness among European consumers. Seventeen countries have joined forces to help consumers make informed decisions about their food choices. The participating countries for 2024 include Romania, Czechia, Hungary, Greece, Estonia, Croatia, Italy, Latvia, Cyprus, Slovenia, Spain, Luxembourg, Slovakia, Austria, Poland, Portugal, and North Macedonia.

Meati Foods is expanding into 2,000 Kroger Family Stores. In just over a year, Meati has grown from six retail locations to over 6,000 stores nationwide in the US. The company recently raised over US$100 million in a C-1 round led by Grosvenor Food & AgTech, with returning investors including Prelude Ventures, Bond, Revolution Growth and Congruent, to help meet the growing demand for its products.

Nomadx Holdings has initiated an early access program for its portable Nomadx platform to enable faster, more accurate on-site pathogen detection in food safety applications. Nomadx cartridge-enhanced SERS platform is a patented surface coating that is applied to silicon chips using metallic nanoparticles. The novel technology significantly enhances the electromagnetic and chemical spectral scattering signal of molecules within a sample to create a platform. Internal validation studies have demonstrated that these enhancements allow the detection and quantification of a wide range of analytes at single-molecule detection levels.