Business Bites: Scottish scientists breed ‘fartless’ cow to reduce methane emissionsBusiness Bites: Scottish scientists breed ‘fartless’ cow to reduce methane emissions
Scottish scientists breed a low-methane calf using IVF, aiming to cut cattle emissions by 30% in 20 years; a French court rules plant-based products can use meat-related terms; most baby food brands aren’t disclosing heavy metal test results; and more.

At a Glance
- Scottish scientists bred Hilda, a low-methane calf, using IVF, aiming to cut cow emissions by 30% in 20 years.
- A French court ruled plant-based products can use meat terms despite meat industry pushback.
- Few brands disclose heavy metal test results despite a California law; only three shared 2024 data.
The Scots have bred a new kind of cow, which emits less methane than your standard bovine. I’m sure the reduction will nearly offset the smoke pouring from my ears as I struggle not to sully my classy news column with a flatulence joke.
In other scuttlebutt, a French court reverses a previous ban on meaty labels for meat alternatives, and Consumer Reports finds more lead, this time in baby foods. But the real story is, which companies are voluntarily reporting it?
All that and more in this week’s Business Bites.
Scots reduce methane emissions, breed ‘fartless’ cow
According to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) data, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from livestock — particularly big, gassy bovine, which pass methane through a digestive process called enteric fermentation — represent more than a quarter of the GHGs created by the agricultural sector, which makes up around 10% of total GHG emissions in the U.S.
Enter Hilda, a new calf in the longstanding Dumfries-based Langhill Herd in Scotland. As the first cow born as part of the Cool Cows Project (and the first in the herd born using in-vitro fertilization [IVF], which allowed her to be born 8 months sooner than previously possible), she produces significantly less methane when she, ahem, lets one go.
This achievement is reportedly the result of combining scientists’ abilities to:
Predict methane production based on DNA.
Extract eggs at a younger age than before.
Fertilize eggs specifically to produce a more methane-efficient cow.
By repeating the IVF process, scientists believe they can double the rate of “genetic gain” in the herd. This could increase the 1% methane reduction per year of traditional breeding techniques by 50%, amounting to a 30% overall decrease over the next two decades.
French court reverses ban on meaty names for alternative meats
In news I’m tempted to call “quaint,” the highest administrative court in France has struck down a previous ban on displaying words like “burger” and “steak” on the packaging of plant-based meats, citing that it could not supersede EU law.
Speaking with Food Ingredients First, Rafael Pinto, senior policy manager at the European Vegetarian Union (EVU), called out the meat industry for lobbying against plant-based alternatives. “They also argue that plant-based alternatives are not at a level playing field,” Pinto said. “On this argument, we agree. The difference is, the meat lobbies claim the level playing field is to stop the use of traditional names. We argue that a level playing field would be equal public subsidies and equal VAT (consumer tax) rates. We are all for a level playing field, and so are consumers.”
The plaintiffs of the case include EVU, the Association Végétarienne de France (AVF) and plant-based giant Beyond Meat. Although the ruling is good news for the growing plant-based food market, something tells me the meat lobby isn’t going to stop at the highest court in France.
Consumer Reports forces brands to get the lead out
Roughly one year ago, California law (AB-899) started requiring baby food manufacturers to test products for children under two (except formula) for arsenic, cadmium, lead and mercury, which apparently brands weren’t doing already, despite it being the bare minimum required by human decency when making nutritional products for the literal future of the human race.
A few brands — very few — are willing to do better. Three baby food companies (out of 30 surveyed by Consumer Reports) elected to share their 2024 test results even though it isn’t required by the law. Those brands were Plum Organics, Once Upon a Farm and Square Baby.
"At Plum Organics we are committed to ensuring that parents and caregivers have clear, easy to access and timely information about all of our products," Alicia Vasquez, VP of sales and marketing at Plum Organics, said in a press release. "In addition to posting test results for 2025 and beyond, our team at Plum Organics chose to publish all 2024 test results to our website, for all consumers, for all products."
US watchdog criticizes USDA’s pathogen standards
The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) is encouraging USDA to update its pathogen standards for bacteria that commonly affect meat and poultry.
“Federal oversight of food safety has been on our High Risk List since 2007,” GAO’s website says. “Yet, harmful bacteria in food sickens 1 in 6 Americans and kills thousands each year … USDA plans to finalize similar safety standards for bacteria found in other meat and poultry products but has yet to do so.”
GAO suggests changes to USDA’s Food Safety & Inspection Service (FSIS) and Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), highlighting five key recommendations, the first of which is to “develop a prioritization plan.” The second states that the “administrator of FSIS should review the public health impacts of delaying proposed pathogen standards.” So, make a plan. Use data to do it. Are these proposed changes to a large government organization or instructions for the victim of a head injury?
Rare bird flu strain could mean further mutations
A rare, mutated strain of bird flu was just confirmed in the U.S., and no, this isn’t the start of a zombie movie, although it may be the start of a zombie reality. Apparently, this is an example of “reassortment,” which occurs when genetic materials mix to produce new combinations of traits.
“This is bad news,” Angela Rasmussen, a virologist at the University of Saskatchewan in Canada, wrote on the social network formerly known as Twitter. “It suggests reassortment of circulating H5N1 viruses with viruses containing N9 NA. Although this indicates reassortment with avian viruses, it's still bad. Reassortment makes pandemics.”
The H5N9 avian influenza, detected alongside the more common H5N1 on a California duck farm in November, prompted the systematic execution of more than 100,000 birds and raises concerns among scientists about potential virus mutations, with ducks acting as key hosts for reassortment. The potential impact on humans remains unclear, but I doubt it’s going to improve the price of eggs.
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