Just Mayo

California's Prop 12, which prohibits the sale of eggs in the state from chickens housed in battery cages, along with the arrival of the first viable egg substitutes, amounts to a one-two punch that could mark the beginning of the end of the industrial egg, writes Rowan Jacobsen in FERN's latest story, published with New Food Economy. (No paywall)

Maple Leaf Foods, Canada's largest distributor of packaged meats, says it will buy Field Roast Grain Meat Co. in an expansion of its role in the North American market for alternative proteins. Based in Seattle, Field Roast produces grain-based "meat" and vegan cheese products, such as plant-based roasts, sausages, burgers and sliced cheese. It also makes a frozen vegan mac-and-cheese.

The maker of a vegan mayonnaise, Hampton Creek, accused three top employees of planning a coup and fired them. The company said the employees — two vice presidents and the chief technology officer — intended to change the governance structure of the Silicon Valley company so that new investors would have a greater voice in company operations.

The farmer-funded American Egg Board will face annual audits and a round of ethics training for its undercover attempt to derail a vegan version of mayonnaise, say USDA regulators. Their report could bolster long-shot legislation to end compulsory participation in the two-dozen "checkoff" programs that promote farm goods, from watermelons and limes to beef, cotton and milk.

Farmer and rancher participation in federally created "check-off" programs, which raise money for research and promotion of two dozen commodities from cotton to beef and milk, would become voluntary rather than mandatory under a bill filed by Sen. Mike Lee, a Utah Republican. A conservative, Lee said mandatory collection of check-off fees "is crony capitalism at its worst."

The former administrator of USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service, Anne Alonzo, will become the chief executive of the American Egg Board, reports Agri-Pulse, pointing to clues in a trade publication.

Hampton Creek, maker of a vegan mayonnaise, says it will get to keep the "Just Mayo" name in an agreement with the FDA, which originally said the name was misleading. Mayonnaise traditionally is a creamy sauce made with egg yolks, oil, vinegar and seasonings.

USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service is reviewing "the way the American Egg Board handled the 'threat' of Hampton Creek - the San Francisco-based start-up behind the egg-free spread Just Mayo - amid claims it overstepped its mandate by seeking to undermine Hampton Creek's progress," reports Food Navigator.