Plant-based meat alternatives are far better for the environment and mostly better for health than products such as burgers and sausages manufactured from animals according to a new report by The Food Foundation (1).
Negative attitudes towards plant-based alternative meats are common, often calling the products unnatural “Frankenfoods” that are manufactured with Ultra-Processed Food (UPF) ingredients and processes. This is somewhat ironic considering 55%, 40% and 60% of the UK, Australian and US diets respectively are reckoned to be made up of UPFs. It seems that plant-based meats are held up to higher scrutiny than many other food products, and when considering them alone many people’s bodies do indeed become their metaphorical temples!
The report is well organised and indexed for those interested in exploring further, but some key takeaways are summarised below.
While plant-based alternatives had the highest incidence of UPFs of the sampled products, over 60% of the animal meat products such as burgers, sausages and nuggets were classified as processed or ultra-processed.
However, critically, a recent study in The Lancet found a trend towards a positive health impact for intake of ultra-processed plant-based alternatives (2). This was in contrast to overall intake of UPF foods and animal based UPF foods which both significantly increased the risk of negative health outcomes.
All three plant-based meat alternative categories analysed contained fewer calories, lower levels of saturated fat, and higher levels of fibre on average compared to the meat products analysed. Just 9% of UK adults consume the recommended amount of fibre intake (3).
Discounting beans, legumes and grains, which the majority of the population probably doesn’t consider a meat alternative anyway, protein content of plant-based alternatives was almost at the levels of animal products. Regardless, the UK does not have any protein deficiency issues at a population level.
Salt content for the meat-alternative products was on average higher than animal products.
Overall plant-based alternatives are at a price premium, but there is a large variation between products.
All plant-based meat alternatives analysed have much smaller Greenhouse Gas Emissions compared to meat.
Lobbying by the meat and dairy industry have impacted on wider political and public opinions on meat reduction.
There is evidence to suggest that a great deal of the online misinformation about meat and dairy alternatives is driven for the most part by a small group of social media accounts associated with self-described wellness experts or far right and right-wing media and political figures (4).
Your Time to Act
Despite coordinated efforts to disparage their benefits, plant-based meat sales have been increasing, but not fast enough. If you are one of the many whose grocery bill is not a significant proportion of overall outgoings, products such as plant-based mince and sausages seem to be a no-brainer. Better for the environment, animals, and as it turns out, your own health.
The Food Foundation is a registered charity working in partnership with researchers, campaigners, community bodies, industry, Government and citizens towards a sustainable food system that delivers health and wellbeing for all. Expert advisers include Dr Rachel Loopstra, a Lecturer in the Department of Nutritional Sciences at King’s College London, and Professor Martin White, programme leader and professor of population health research in the MRC Epidemiology Unit at the University of Cambridge amongst others.
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