Nutritional assessment of plant-based meat analogues on the Swedish market

Abstract

Nutritional quality of 142 plant-based meat analogues (PBMAs) on the Swedish market were assessed by nutritional contribution (NC) to recommended nutrient intake, three labelling systems (Keyhole, Nutri-Score, nutrition claims) and comparisons to meat references. Based on median (min-max) NC for macronutrients, PBMAs in general appeared as healthy options to meat due to higher NC per 100 g for fibre [PBMAs: 15% (1-33%) vs meat: 0% (0-2%)] and lower NC for saturated fat [PBMAs: 4% (0-59%) vs meat: 15% (1-51%)]. The NC per 100 g for salt was substantial for both PBMAs [25% (5-52%)] and meat [24% (2-55%)]. Limited data for micronutrients indicated that PBMAs are higher in iron compared to meat. Nutrition quality varied both between and within product categories. Mince, bite/fillet and nugget analogues were the main healthier categories, according to labelling systems. Bioavailability of iron, protein quality and effects of processing are important future aspects to consider.

Keywords:

• meat substitute
• meat alternative
• nutrition profile
• nutrition labelling
• protein

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest.

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author (SB), upon reasonable request.

Additional information

Funding

This work was performed with financial support by the Swedish Research Council for Environment, Agricultural Sciences and Spatial Planning (Formas) within the national centre FINEST – Food Innovation for Sustainable System Transition [Grant no. 2020-02839]. The funder and industrial partners had no role in the design of the study, in the collection, analysis and interpretation of data or in the writing of the manuscript.