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. 2022 Jan 29;14(3):601.
doi: 10.3390/nu14030601.

Plant-Based Alternative Products: Are They Healthy Alternatives? Micro- and Macronutrients and Nutritional Scoring

Marcel Pointke  1 , Elke Pawelzik  1
Affiliations

Plant-Based Alternative Products: Are They Healthy Alternatives? Micro- and Macronutrients and Nutritional Scoring

Marcel Pointke et al. Nutrients. .

Abstract

In recent decades, the demand, supply, and consumption of plant-based (pb) alternative products have increased worldwide. The objective of this study was to characterize pb meat and cheese products and compare them with their respective animal-based products. Data were collected in online market analyses (2019/2021). Nutritional data, Nutri-Score, and analysis of micronutrients are presented in this article. The number of products has grown in all categories, with the largest increase of 110% in pb cheese. The main protein sources in pb meat were soy and wheat, followed by an increasing use of peas. Pb meat generally contained less energy and total and saturated fat, but more carbohydrates and sugars than meat. In pb cheese, the protein content was lower than that of cheese. In 3 of 17 food groups, the salt content of pb alternatives was lower than in animal products. The daily requirement for iron could be covered better by pb alternatives than previously anticipated as well as the need for the vitamins E and K. The calculated Nutri-Score was generally lower for pb meat and higher for pb cheese than for the respective animal products. The trend towards consumption of pb alternative products is increasing, but the high level of processing, wide range of nutrients, and high salt content indicate the need for nutritional guidelines for these products.

Keywords: Nutri-Score; cheese alternative; meat alternative; micronutrients; online market analysis.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest. The funders had no role in the design of the study, in the collection, analysis, or interpretation of data, in the writing of the manuscript, or in the decision to publish the results.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Protein sources used in plant-based meat alternatives (PBMA-hot) in 2019 (patterned color) and 2021 (solid color) (%); n = number of products; animal = milk or/and egg protein; others = beans, sunflower and pumpkin seeds.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Protein sources used in plant-based meat alternatives (PBMA-cold) in 2019 (patterned color) and 2021 (solid color) (%); n = number of products; animal = milk and/or egg protein; others = millet, sunflower seeds.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Fat sources used in plant-based cheese alternatives (PBCA) in 2019 (patterned color) and 2021 (solid color) (%); n = number of products; others = almond, shea butter, soy, olive, lupine.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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