Summary
This multicriteria assessment evaluated 24 meat and milk alternatives across nutritional, health, environmental, and cost dimensions, with a focus on high-income countries. Unprocessed plant-based foods (peas, soybeans, beans) performed best across all domains, whilst processed alternatives and traditional meat replacements offered substantial but lesser benefits compared to animal products. The findings support policy and business initiatives to increase uptake of plant-based alternatives, particularly unprocessed options, as a strategy for reducing dietary risks, environmental impacts, and food costs.
UK applicability
The study's focus on high-income countries makes findings broadly applicable to UK dietary transitions and food policy. However, the analysis does not examine UK-specific food environments, consumer preferences, or regional agricultural production systems, limiting direct guidance for UK-tailored interventions.
Key measures
Nutritional composition, health impacts (dietary risks and mortality), environmental resource use and pollution (climate, biodiversity, freshwater), and diet costs
Outcomes reported
The study evaluated 24 meat and milk alternatives across nutritional, health, environmental, and cost dimensions. It identified which alternative protein sources and milk replacements offered the best performance across multiple sustainability and public health criteria.
Topic tags
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