IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v15y2023i19p14336-d1250073.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Safety and Nutritional Risks Associated with Plant-Based Meat Alternatives

Author

Listed:
  • Diana Bogueva

    (Curtin University Sustainability Policy (CUSP) Institute, Curtin University, Perth 6102, Australia
    Centre for Advanced Food Engineering (CAFE), University of Sydney, Sydney 2006, Australia)

  • David Julian McClements

    (Department of Food Science, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003-9313, USA)

Abstract

The market for plant-based meat alternatives is growing to meet consumer demands for a more sustainable, ethical, and healthy diet, as well as to address global food security issues linked to an increasing global population and climate change. Increased consumption of plant-based meat products raises questions about potential food safety risks, including concerns about allergenicity, toxicity, foodborne pathogens, and adequate nutritional composition. From a public health perspective, there has been limited research on the nutritional and health aspects of plant-based meat products, and studies of potential food safety risks of these novel protein sources are not well documented. Much of the research on the nutrition and safety of these foods has been commissioned or funded by companies developing these products, or by other organizations promoting them. This article reviews the existing literature and analyses the potential food safety and health risks associated with plant-based meat products, including nutritional, chemical, microbiological, and allergen concerns. This review has revealed several research gaps that merit further exploration to inform the conversation around the future development and commercialization of plant-based meat substitutes. Further research, technological advancements, food standards, and risk assessment and a multidisciplinary approach are essential to address safety concerns and facilitate the responsible use of new-generation plant-based meat alternatives, particularly for emerging foods with limited knowledge of their risks and benefits.

Suggested Citation

  • Diana Bogueva & David Julian McClements, 2023. "Safety and Nutritional Risks Associated with Plant-Based Meat Alternatives," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(19), pages 1-28, September.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:19:p:14336-:d:1250073
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/19/14336/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/19/14336/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Zhuoxian Zhao & Sheyu Li & Guanjian Liu & Fangfang Yan & Xuelei Ma & Zeyu Huang & Haoming Tian, 2012. "Body Iron Stores and Heme-Iron Intake in Relation to Risk of Type 2 Diabetes: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 7(7), pages 1-17, July.
    2. Ujué Fresán & Maximino Alfredo Mejia & Winston J Craig & Karen Jaceldo-Siegl & Joan Sabaté, 2019. "Meat Analogs from Different Protein Sources: A Comparison of Their Sustainability and Nutritional Content," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(12), pages 1-10, June.
    3. Dora Marinova & Diana Bogueva, 2022. "Food in a Planetary Emergency," Springer Books, Springer, number 978-981-16-7707-6, July.
    4. Dora Marinova & Diana Bogueva, 2022. "Food Marketing in a Planetary Emergency," Springer Books, in: Food in a Planetary Emergency, chapter 0, pages 153-169, Springer.
    5. Wenyin Loh & Mimi L. K. Tang, 2018. "The Epidemiology of Food Allergy in the Global Context," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(9), pages 1-8, September.
    6. Claudia D’Alessandro & Jason Pezzica & Carolina Bolli & Alice Di Nicola & Azzurra Falai & Domenico Giannese & Adamasco Cupisti, 2022. "Processed Plant-Based Foods for CKD Patients: Good Choice, but Be Aware," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(11), pages 1-10, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Pingali, Prabhu & Boiteau, Jocelyn & Choudhry, Abhinav & Hall, Aaron, 2023. "Making meat and milk from plants: A review of plant-based food for human and planetary health," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 170(C).
    2. Nora A. Althumiri & Mada H. Basyouni & Norah AlMousa & Mohammed F. AlJuwaysim & Nasser F. BinDhim & Saleh A. Alqahtani, 2021. "Prevalence of Self-Reported Food Allergies and Their Association with Other Health Conditions among Adults in Saudi Arabia," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(1), pages 1-10, January.
    3. Bry-Chevalier, Tom, 2024. "Comparing the potential of meat alternatives for a more sustainable food system," OSF Preprints ze5yt, Center for Open Science.
    4. Anne Charlotte Bunge & Rachel Mazac & Michael Clark & Amanda Wood & Line Gordon, 2024. "Sustainability benefits of transitioning from current diets to plant-based alternatives or whole-food diets in Sweden," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-10, December.
    5. M Pilar Vaquero & Francisco J Sánchez Muniz, 2018. "Dysmetabolic Iron Overload and Cardiometabolic Diseases. Cause-Effect Relationship or Indirect Association?," Current Research in Diabetes & Obesity Journal, Juniper Publishers Inc., vol. 8(1), pages 6-10, July.
    6. Shila Minari Hargreaves & António Raposo & Ariana Saraiva & Renata Puppin Zandonadi, 2021. "Vegetarian Diet: An Overview through the Perspective of Quality of Life Domains," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(8), pages 1-23, April.
    7. Fahad M. Aldakheel, 2021. "Allergic Diseases: A Comprehensive Review on Risk Factors, Immunological Mechanisms, Link with COVID-19, Potential Treatments, and Role of Allergen Bioinformatics," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(22), pages 1-29, November.
    8. Tiboldo, Giulia & Boehm, Rebecca & Shah, Farhed & Moro, Daniele & Castellari, Elena, 2022. "Taxing the heat out of the U.S. food system," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 110(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:19:p:14336-:d:1250073. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.