Abstract
Dietary patterns high in meat compromise both planetary and human health. Meat alternatives may help to facilitate meat reduction; however, the nutritional implications of displacing meat with meat alternatives does not appear to have been evaluated. Here, the ninth cycle of the National Diet and Nutrition Survey was used as the basis of models to assess the effect of meat substitution on nutritional intake. We implemented three models; model 1 replaced 25 %, 50 %, 75 % or 100 % of the current meat intake with a weighted mean of meat alternatives within the UK market. Model 2 compared different ingredient categories of meat alternative; vegetable, mycoprotein, a combination of bean and pea, tofu, nut and soya. Model 3 compared fortified v. unfortified meat alternatives. The models elicited significant shifts in nutrients. Overall, carbohydrate, fibre, sugars and Na increased, whereas reductions were found for protein, total and saturated fat, Fe and B12. Greatest effects were seen for vegetable-based (+24·63g/d carbohydrates), mycoprotein-based (-6·12g/d total fat), nut-based (-19·79g/d protein, +10·23g/d fibre; -4·80g/d saturated fat, +7·44g/d sugars), soya-based (+495·98mg/d Na) and tofu-based (+7·63mg/d Fe, -2·02μg/d B12). Our results suggest that meat alternatives can be a healthful replacement for meat if chosen correctly. Consumers should choose meat alternatives low in Na and sugar, high in fibre, protein and with high micronutrient density, to avoid compromising nutritional intake if reducing meat intake. Manufacturers and policy makers should consider fortification of meat alternatives with nutrients such as Fe and B12 and focus on reducing Na and sugar content.
Highlights
Dietary patterns high in meat compromise both planetary and human health
A common occurrence in the collection of habitual dietary intake data is underreporting of energy intake[28], which the NDNS National Diet and Nutrition Survey Rolling Program (RP) data drawn upon here corroborates
In model 1, we explored projected changes in nutritional intake given a graded replacement of meat from replacing 25 % of current meat intake, through to a 100 % replacement, using weighted composite nutritional values for the meat alternatives based on consumer purchasing data
Summary
Dietary patterns high in meat compromise both planetary and human health. Meat alternatives may help to facilitate meat reduction; the nutritional implications of displacing meat with meat alternatives does not appear to have been evaluated. Consumers should choose meat alternatives low in Na and sugar, high in fibre, protein and with high micronutrient density, to avoid compromising nutritional intake if reducing meat intake. The rapid increase in the consumption of meat alternatives has raised concerns regarding their overall healthfulness and the potential displacement of valuable nutrients. The developing meat alternative market includes an array of food products with variable nutritional quality, some of which might be considered ultra-processed[23]. If these foods are to play a role in reducing meat consumption at a population level, it is essential that any population level nutritional benefits and consequences are identified early and actions taken to mitigate undesirable effects
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