[4]: 3, 17  Information like each plant's drought tolerance, taste, and any likely allergenic problems were compiled into a database called Orchard.

"[11] In October 2014, competitor Unilever sued Hampton Creek Foods alleging the "JUST Mayo" name misled consumers into believing the product contained real eggs.

[19][20] Public sentiment favored Hampton Creek and more than 100,000 people eventually signed a Change.org petition asking Unilever to "stop bullying sustainable food companies.

[25] However, the Food and Drug Administration sent a warning letter saying the Just Mayo name was misleading to consumers, since the product must contain real eggs to be called "mayonnaise.

"[26][27] In December 2015, Hampton Creek reached an agreement with the FDA to make it more clear in the Just Mayo packaging that it does not contain real eggs.

In late 2015, several former employees anonymously alleged Hampton Creek was exaggerating the science behind its products, mislabeling the ingredients in pre-production samples, and manipulated employment contracts.

[30][31] Then, emails secured through the Freedom of Information Act showed that the American Egg Board hired Edelman Public Relations to engage in a campaign targeting Hampton Creek's reputation.

[36][37][38] Then, in 2016, a Bloomberg story reported on evidence inferring that Hampton Creek bought its own products off of store shelves in order to inflate sales numbers during fund-raising.

[39] The Securities and Exchange Commission and the Department of Justice started an inquiry[40][41] that was closed in March 2017[42] after concluding the allegations were insignificant.

[4]: 17  Late that year, it also substantially expanded its laboratory testing of prospective plant proteins, using robots and automation.

[44] In June 2017, Target stopped selling Hampton Creek products after seeing an anonymous letter alleging food safety issues, such as Salmonella and Listeria at Eat Just's manufacturing facility.

[45][46] Target said none of its customers reported getting sick[46] and an FDA investigation found no contaminants in Hampton Creek's products.

[55] Through the joint venture, Proterra promised to invest up to $100 million and, with Eat Just, started building a manufacturing facility in Singapore.

[59] In May, 2022, Eat Just signed a contract with ABEC Inc., which manufactures bioprocess equipment, to build 10 bioreactors for growing meat.

[65] In 2021, the company was sued by the landlord of its San Francisco headquarters, 2000 Folsom Partners LLC, over $2.6 million in overdue rent payments.

Eat Just was also sued in 2021 by the Archer-Daniels-Midland Company over failing to pay a $15,000 2015 bill for hemp seeds, and by VWR International for $189,000 in unpaid debt.

[10][18] For example, plant proteins are analyzed for molecular weight, amino acid sequences,[13] and performance under heat or pressure.