Plants

SINGAPORE: In recent years, more people have been adding more plants to their plate. And the growing awareness of the role of animal agriculture (using animals for meat, eggs and dairy) as a leading driver of global warming is part of the reason. Animal agriculture, as Good Food Institute Director Bruce Friedrich points out in his TED talk, is incredibly inefficient: Even the most efficient animal, chickens, requires nine calories of feed to produce just one calorie of meat. Using animals to produce food is a form of food waste. Those who believe in this cause may have cut their meat intake in a move to tackle the food wastage problem. The treatment of animals constitutes another reason some people are increasing their consumption of plant foods. Thanks to the Internet, the closed doors of the meat, dairy, and egg production facilities have opened to expose the suffering of the animals trapped in this system. As important as environment and animal welfare issues are, health … [Read more...] about Commentary: Add more plants, and less meat to your meals. Here’s why

BEIJING/SHANGHAI: Nestle launched its plant-based Harvest Gourmet brand in China on Wednesday (Dec 9), moving into the country's meat substitute industry that has seen a surge of interest from investors and brands over the past year. The Swiss food and drink giant said the brand, which is available in Australia and New Zealand, would offer burgers, sausages, nuggets and mince, and will also sell dishes aimed to appeal to Chinese taste-buds, such as kung pao chicken, braised meatballs and pork belly. Demand for alternatives to regular meat is surging due to concerns about health, animal welfare and the environment. Entrants to China's meat substitute market in recent months have ranged from domestic firms Zhenmeat and Starfield to U.S. firm Beyond Meat Inc, which has collaborations with Starbucks and Yum China's KFC chain. Harvest Gourmet products sold in China will be produced by Nestle's faux-meat factory in Tianjin, its first in Asia. The brand will open an online store … [Read more...] about Nestle launches plant-based Harvest Gourmet brand in China

SINGAPORE: The defence for a babysitter on trial for poisoning two babies asserted on Thursday (Feb 27) that a grandmother had planted the drugs in small doses as she did not want her grandchild taken to a babysitter. According to the defence, the grandmother of the first victim had introduced small amounts of drugs into the baby's food, knowing she would consume it in the babysitter's home. She purportedly did this as she was angry with her daughter-in-law, who wanted the victim to be cared for by a babysitter. The grandmother, who has been a nurse since 1980, strongly rejected the claims. The twist came on the fourth day of the trial against babysitter and registered nurse Sa'adiah Jamari, 38. She is contesting two counts of administering poisons to a five-month-old baby - the first victim - and an 11-month-old child in 2016. She is accused of feeding the infants multiple drugs including sleeping pills, antihistamines and medication for anxiety, most of which are … [Read more...] about Baby poisoning trial: Babysitter’s lawyer asserts that victim’s grandmother planted the drugs

OSLO: A fire at Norway's Tjeldbergodden industrial facility on Wednesday triggered an evacuation of staff and the shutdown of Europe's largest methanol plant and a gas processing terminal, state-controlled oil firm Equinor said. A photo published by local newspaper Adresseavisen showed a large plume of black smoke rising from the plant, although the fire was put out after one hour, Equinor and the police said. "There were about 30 people on site, but everybody was accounted for and no one was injuried," Equinor spokesman Morten Eek told Reuters. The company later released a statement saying it was working to get an overview of the consequences and the cause of the fire. The Tjeldbergodden facility consists of three plants; a methanol plant, where the fire broke out, a gas receiving terminal and an air separation plant. Output at all three plants was shut, Equinor said. The methanol plant accounts for more than 25per cent of European production and has an annual … [Read more...] about Equinor fire shuts Europe’s biggest methanol plant

PARIS: Renault will stop assembling new cars at its Flins factory outside Paris and turn the site into a research, recycling and repair centre by 2024 in a move set to save full-time jobs at the plant, the company said on Wednesday. The loss-making carmaker said it aimed to employ 3,000 people at the revamped site by 2030, and billed the makeover as a way of saving a site that might otherwise be threatened as the group narrows its focus on profitable car models and cuts costs. "The status quo was no longer possible, we had to be lucid about this," Renault Chairman Jean-Dominique Senard told an online news conference after meeting with unions at Flins, flanked by new Chief Executive Luca De Meo. Renault, which had been struggling with waning profitability and sales before the coronavirus pandemic hit, has this year announced 4,600 job cuts in France as part of a 2 billion euro (US$2.4 billion) cost savings plan. Unions said their proposals to keep on some car assembly … [Read more...] about Renault to switch French car assembly plant to recycling