Foods of the Future: Inside iCAMP’s Protein Central
The Integrative Center for Alternative Meat and Protein (iCAMP) at UC Davis focuses on developing transformative knowledge and innovation to accelerate the commercialization of alternative proteins, address global food system challenges, and strengthen food security.
Quarterly, iCAMP hosts Protein Central, a lecture series that also showcases alternative proteins as students, researchers, and industry experts mix and mingle. In May, I sampled products from Bayou Best Foods, Upside Foods, and Mission Barns, then attended a lecture by Davis Mills, a distinguished professor and the Peter J. Shields Chair in Dairy Food Science in the Department of Food Science and Technology.
What’s on the Menu?
Bayou Best Foods offered cornstarch-coated, pan-fried plant-based shrimp made with pea protein, served with cocktail or sweet chili sauce. It was my first time trying a plant-based shrimp, and I was quite impressed. It had a nice shrimp flavor without being too fishy, and it was meaty and plump. Bayou Best Foods is not currently entering retail and instead focuses on the food service industry, aiming to match or beat the price of ocean shrimp.
Upside Foods presented barbecue sliders with cultivated chicken. Cultivated meat is produced with animal cells in a facility rather than from traditional farm-raised animals. Attendees remarked that the cultivated meat industry is not yet optimized for large-scale production because the process is quite expensive. Each sample consisted of a brioche bun, coleslaw, and a small amount of shredded chicken in barbecue sauce. The sandwiches were quite delicious, and the chicken, though limited, matched the satisfying flavor and texture of conventional shredded chicken. Upside Foods is currently focused on food service customers and plans to eventually enter retail stores.
Mission Barns served two different meatballs with marinara sauce, both made with cultivated meat. To mitigate the high cost of cultivated meat, Mission Barnes incorporated other ingredients to stretch the meat. One meatball was made with cultivated pork and pea protein for higher protein, and the other used a mix of cultivated pork and vegetables for higher fiber - both offering a lower cost to the consumer. The meatballs were enjoyable, and I am excited to see future hybrid products. Mission Barns is launching in food service on college campuses, in hospitals, and in cafeterias.
Fucose, Brain Health & Tempeh
Professor David Block, iCAMP director, introduced the evening’s lecturer. Professor David Mills has a Bachelor’s degree in biochemistry from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, a Master’s degree in biochemistry from the University of Minnesota, a Ph.D. in microbiology from the University of Minnesota and did his post-doctoral work at the University of North Carolina. His current research focuses on lactic acid bacteria and oligosaccharides in human milk.
Fucose is a sugar found in human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs). 60% of HMOs were found to be attached to fucose, which, Professor Mills says, raises the question, “Why is there so much fucose in human milk?”
Mills and his research partners hypothesized that because fucose is delivered to infants through breastfeeding, it may encourage brain development. His research tested the effect of fucose consumption on the brain development of mice by adding fucose to their water. The results showed that their learning and spatial awareness improved (as measured by the Barnes Maze Test), and their anxiety decreased (as measured by the Open Field Test). Moving forward, the research team plans to use fucose as both a brain supplement and a postbiotic.
Sources of fucose, however, are few and far between. While looking for fucose in different protein sources, Mills found that 14 tested strains of tempeh, a fermented soybean protein, contained 7-19% fucose. Furthermore, Professor Juliana Bell is currently working to cultivate fungus on waste streams to produce a fucose-rich biomass that can be used to produce mycoproteins, protein extract, or fucose-rich fiber.
A Future with More Alt Proteins
The evolution of alternative proteins over the last two decades is fascinating. From mycoproteins made from mushrooms and other fungi to commercially popular vegetarian processed products such as Beyond Meat and Impossible Burgers to the use of animal cells in cultivated meat, the research opportunities for this industry seem vast.
I have spent a long time choosing not to eat meat and trying any alternatives I could find on grocery store shelves. It was encouraging to see new products being developed, and I hope that more companies like Bayou Best Foods, Upside Foods, and Mission Barns, along with researchers with a similar focus, can carry out iCAMP’s mission to create a better long-term protein landscape for consumers.
If you want to find out more about iCAMP, visit their webpage and attend their free annual summit September 1-2, 2026, where over 300 global leaders in research, industry, investment, and policy come together to discuss alternative proteins, cultivated meat, fermentation, and sustainable food innovation.
