Nutritional Quality of Plant-Based Meat Products Available in the UK: A Cross-Sectional Survey
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Plant-Based Meat Data
2.1.1. Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria for Plant-Based Meat products
- Products designed to mimic the taste, texture, and full consumer experience of meat that are made of fungal or plant-based ingredients;
- Chilled, frozen, and ambient PBM products;
- Vegetarian PBM products (i.e., those with the presence of eggs and or dairy in the ingredients list);
- PBM products whose name or description included nouns generally used for meat products (e.g., burger, sausage);
- We considered only one example of one formulation regardless of the different pack sizes.
- Products that have not been designed to mimic meat, such as tofu, tempeh, falafels, and vegetable fritters;
- Vegan cheese and ready meals based on PBM as these categories require separate assessment.
2.1.2. Product Categorization
2.2. Meat Data
2.3. Statistical Analysis
Nutrient Content
2.4. Nutrient Profile
2.5. FoP Labeling
2.6. Comparison with UK’s 2024 Salt Reduction Targets
- Plain meat alternatives: 0.63 g salt per 100 g (maximum target);
- Meat-free products: 1.19 g/100 g (maximum target);
- Meat-free bacon: 1.78 g/100 g (maximum target);
3. Results
3.1. Nutrient Content per 100 g (n = 168; n = 226)
- Energy density: when compared to their equivalent meat products, energy density was significantly lower in four out of six PBM categories (Table 2);
- Total fat: total fat content was significantly lower in four out of six PBM categories;
- Saturated fat: saturated fat was significantly lower in five out of six PBM categories.Overall, meat products had more than twice the amount of saturated fat compared to PBM products. For example, the average saturated fat content in meat-based burgers was almost four times higher than in plant-based burgers (6.6 ± 2.7 g vs. 1.7 ± 1.5 g, p < 0.001) (Table 2);
- Fiber: the fiber content of all PBM categories was significantly higher (p < 0.001) than the fiber content of the corresponding meat-based products. Overall, PBM categories had around four times more fiber than their corresponding meat products (Table 2);
- Protein: the protein content in PBM products was significantly lower than meat-based products in four out of six categories. Plant-based and meat-based breaded poultry and mince had similar protein content. Burgers had the largest difference in protein content; 11.1± 6.1 in meat vs. 19.9 ± 3.8 in plant-based burgers (p < 0.001) (Table 2);
- Salt: the salt content was significantly higher in five out of six PBM categories. Plant-based sausages had a similar salt content to their meat counterparts. The plain plant-based poultry category had more than twice the amount of salt than plain poultry (1.3 ± 0.6 vs. 0.5 ± 0.3, p < 0.001) (Table 2);
- There was a wide variation in the energy density and nutrient content per 100 g of all PBM and meat categories.
3.2. Overall Nutrient Profile (n = 168; n = 226)
3.2.1. UK’s Nutrient Profiling Model
3.2.2. Front-of Pack Labelling
3.2.3. Comparison with the 2024 Maximum Salt Targets (n = 123)
4. Discussion
4.1. Comparison with Other Studies
4.2. Limitations
4.3. Implications
5. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Data Availability Statement
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Category | Description |
---|---|
Sausages | Meat-free “sausages”, “brats”, “bangers”, “hot dogs”, “wieners”, “polony”, “shroomdogs” |
Burgers | Meat-free “burgers”, “quarter pounders”, “patties” |
Plain poultry | Meat-free chicken mimicking chicken “strips”, “pieces”, “tenders”, and “bites” |
Breaded poultry | Meat-free breaded chicken mimicking chicken “nuggets”, “goujons”, “escalopes”, “southern-style”, “crispy tenders or slices”, “schnitzels”, and “kievs” |
Mince | Meat-free “mince” |
Meatballs | Meat-free “meatballs” and “balls” |
Bacon | Meat-free “bacon” or “rashers” |
Energy Density Mean ± SD (kcal/100 g) | p | Total Fat, Mean ± SD (g/100 g) | p | Saturated, Mean ± SD (g/100 g) | p | Fibre, Mean ± SD (g/100 g) | p | Protein, Mean ± SD (g/100 g) | p | Salt, Mean ± SD (g/100 g) | p | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sausages (n = 72) | 259.5 ± 51.1 (129.0–368.0) | <0.001 | 19.1 ± 6.4 (3.9–32.1) | <0.001 | 6.8 ± 2.5 (1.1–11.6) | <0.001 | 1.1 ± 0.4 (0.2–2.0) | <0.001 | 15 ± 3.1 (10.2–22.8) | 0.002 | 1.6 ± 0.5 (0.6–2.9) | 0.141 |
PB sausages (n = 41) | 175.4 ± 50.0 (103.0–267.0) | 8.9 ± 5.3 (1.4–20.0) | 2.6 ± 3.1 (0.2 –15.8) | 5.4 ± 2.0 (1.7–11.0) | 12.1 ± 5.5 (2.6–25.0) | 1.4 ± 0.4 (0.9–2.4) | ||||||
Burgers (n = 26) | 236.4 ± 54.9 (129.0–315.0) | 0.010 | 15.0 ± 6.8 (3.9–26.1) | <0.001 | 6.6 ± 2.7 (1.1 –11.0) | <0.001 | 0.9 ± 0.5 (0–2.3) | <0.001 | 19.9 ± 3.8 (13.7–26.4) | <0.001 | 0.9 ± 0.3 (0.6–1.9) | <0.001 |
PB burgers (n = 58) | 203.1 ± 46.4 (120.0–338.0) | 10.3 ± 5.0 (1.4–27.0) | 1.7 ± 1.5 (0.2–10.0) | 4.6 ± 2.1 (0.3–10.2) | 11.1 ± 6.1 (3.2–23.0) | 1.1 ± 0.4 (0.4–2.0) | ||||||
Plain poultry (n = 68) | 146.8 ± 39.2 (99.0–252.0) | 0.299 | 5.02 ± 4.7 (0.9–17.7) | 0.578 | 1.4 ± 1.4 (0.3–6.3) | 0.003 | 0.2 ± 0.3 (0–1.3) | <0.001 | 23.3 ± 5.2 (0.5–35) | <0.001 | 0.5 ± 0.3 (0 –1.6) | <0.001 |
PB plain poultry (n = 20) | 161.5 ± 57.9 (95.0–336.0) | 5.7 ± 5.0 (0.5–22.0) | 0.8 ± 0.6 (0.1–2.9) | 5.6 ± 2.3 (0.4–12.0) | 18.7 ± 4.1 (9.1–29.7) | 1.3 ± 0.6 (0.4–2.3) | ||||||
Breaded poultry (n = 38) | 252.9 ± 29.1 (186.0–304.0) | 0.026 | 14.0 ± 3.6 (6.8–21.0) | 0.009 | 2.6 ± 1.7 (0.7–8.1) | <0.001 | 1.2 ± 0.6 (0–2.4) | <0.001 | 13.6 ± 2.6 (7.2–20.3) | 0.522 | 0.7 ± 0.2 (0.2–1.2) | <0.001 |
PB breaded poultry (n = 22) | 233.9 ± 31.5 (188.0–321.0) | 11.0 ± 4.3 (4.3–22.0) | 1.3 ± 0.9 (0–4.0) | 5.1 ± 2.0 (2.0 –8.9) | 13.2 ± 2.5 (9.1–17.8) | 1.2 ± 0.3 (0.4 –1.8) | ||||||
Mince (n = 14) | 183.2 ± 47.1 (114.0–252.0) | 0.572 | 11.4 ± 6.1 (1.3–20.0) | 0.006 | 5.1 ± 3.1 (0.4–9.8) | 0.002 | 1.6 ± 0.5 (0–2.0) | <0.001 | 19.6 ± 2.9 (13.4–25.4) | 0.670 | 0.3 ± 0.2 (0.1–0.9) | 0.002 |
PB mince (n = 16) | 170.3 ± 74.8 (66.0–374.0) | 5.7 ± 3.7 (0.2 –11.3) | 1.7 ± 2.2 (0.1–7.9) | 5.6 ± 3.1 (1.6–16.0) | 20.8 ± 10.2 (2.5–30.6) | 0.7 ± 0.4 (0–1.5) | ||||||
Meatballs (n = 8) | 219.6 ± 34.4 (178.0–279.0) | 0.019 | 12.1 ± 4.1 (6.1–17.9) | 0.076 | 4.6 ± 1.5 (1.7–6.2) | <0.001 | 0.8 ± 0.5 (0.1–1.7) | <0.001 | 21.3 ± 3.4 (16.8–25.2) | <0.001 | 0.8 ± 0.1 (0.1–0.9) | 0.012 |
PB meatballs (n = 11) | 178.9 ± 31.6 (145.0–236.0) | 8.7 ± 3.3 (4.3–15.0) | 1.1 ± 0.4 (0.5 –1.7) | 5.5 ± 0.8 (4.0–6.7) | 13.9 ± 3.0 (0.7–0.9) | 1.1 ± 0.3 (0.8–1.7) |
Sausages | p | Burgers | p | Plain Poultry | p | Breaded Poultry | p | Mince | p | Meatballs | p | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Meat | 13.8 ± 5.5 | <0.001 | 9.3 ± 5.6 | <0.001 | −1.0 ± 2.8 | 0.710 | 2.2 ± 3.6 | 0.003 | 3.2 ± 5.9 | 0.004 | 5.0 ± 3.6 | <0.001 |
PBM | 1.7 ± 5.9 | 0.8 ± 3.7 | −1.5 ± 5.5 | −0.9 ± 3.6 | −3.4 ± 5.4 | −4.0 ± 2.0 |
Category | Grams of Salt/100 g, Mean ± SD (Min–Max) | UK Maximum Salt Target (Grams of Salt/100 g) for 2024 | N (%) of Products Meeting the 2024 Target |
---|---|---|---|
Plain meat alternatives (n = 26) | 1.12 ± 0.46 (0.05–2.3) | 0.63 | 4 (15.4%) |
Meat-free products (n = 93) | 1.30 ± 0.45 (0.35–2.4) | 1.19 | 30 (35.5%) |
Meat-free bacon (n = 4) | 2.12 ± 0.94 (0.8–2.9) | 1.78 | 1 (25%) |
Total (n = 123) | - | - | 35 (28.5%) |
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Alessandrini, R.; Brown, M.K.; Pombo-Rodrigues, S.; Bhageerutty, S.; He, F.J.; MacGregor, G.A. Nutritional Quality of Plant-Based Meat Products Available in the UK: A Cross-Sectional Survey. Nutrients 2021, 13, 4225. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu13124225
Alessandrini R, Brown MK, Pombo-Rodrigues S, Bhageerutty S, He FJ, MacGregor GA. Nutritional Quality of Plant-Based Meat Products Available in the UK: A Cross-Sectional Survey. Nutrients. 2021; 13(12):4225. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu13124225
Chicago/Turabian StyleAlessandrini, Roberta, Mhairi K. Brown, Sonia Pombo-Rodrigues, Sheena Bhageerutty, Feng J. He, and Graham A. MacGregor. 2021. "Nutritional Quality of Plant-Based Meat Products Available in the UK: A Cross-Sectional Survey" Nutrients 13, no. 12: 4225. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu13124225