Making meat in safer, more efficient ways
Plant-based meat is a market-based solution that can feed a growing global population while building a more stable food system, stemming antibiotic resistance, and meeting climate goals.
Plant-based meat often joins conventional animal meat in consumers’ baskets, and consumers perceive plant-based alternatives to processed meat favorably.1, 2 Therefore, it’s important to ask: How does the nutrition of plant-based meat compare to the meat it replaces?3
Plant-based meat generally has fewer calories and less saturated fat than animal-based meat. It has zero cholesterol and almost always contains fiber. Although different plant-based products have different formulations, comparing some of the most popular products on the market with conventional options gives us a good sense of how the category generally stacks up.
Plant-based nutrition facts
| Product | Calories | Total fat (percent of calories) | Saturated fat | Fiber | Protein (percent of calories) | Sodium* | Cholesterol |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BEEF: SERVING SIZE 113G (QUARTER POUND) | |||||||
| Conventional 80/20 ground beefUSDA | 290 | 23g(70%) | 9g | 0g | 19g(27%) | 75mg | 80mg |
| Beyond Burger Beyond Meat | 230 | 14g(55%) | 5g | 2g | 20g(35%) | 390mg | 0mg |
| Impossible Burger Impossible Foods | 240 | 14g(53%) | 8g | 3g | 19g(32%) | 370mg | 0mg |
| Vegan Meat Lovers Burger MorningStar Farms | 270 | 16g(53%) | 2.5g | 4g | 27g(40%) | 330mg | 0mg |
| CHICKEN: SERVING SIZE 95G | |||||||
| Conventional Chicken Nuggets Tyson** | 290 | 18g(57%) | 4g | 0g | 15g (21%) | 500 mg | 40mg |
| Beyond Chicken Tenders Beyond Meat** | 250 | 14g(51%) | 2.5g | 2g | 15g (25%) | 530mg | 0mg |
| Impossible Chicken Nuggets Impossible Foods | 240 | 12g(45%) | 1.5g | 2g | 13g (22%) | 480mg | 0mg |
| Veggie Chick’n Nuggets MorningStar Farms** | 210 | 9g(38%) | 1g | 4g | 14g (27%) | 330mg | 0mg |
Is plant-based meat ultra-processed?
Food processing is not inherently bad. The golden rule of effectively processing food is “nothing bad added, nothing good taken away.” Processing cacao beans, for example, removes the cocoa butter, which is high in saturated fat, and leaves behind cocoa powder, which contains anti-inflammatory flavanols. In that case, processing the raw food enhances its health.
“Ultra-processed” foods take food processing techniques to the next level to make foods like chips, sodas, and candy bars hyperpalatable. Many nutritionists would recommend choosing fruits, vegetables, or nuts as snacks. Compared with minimally processed foods, ultra-processed foods generally have less (or zero) fiber and a lot more sugar, total fat, saturated fat, sodium, and calories.4,5
Plant-based meat is not here to replace apples or kale. Consumers are often choosing plant-based meat to reduce their animal meat consumption. Thus, plant-based meats can be a better choice because they have more fiber, less fat, and fewer calories than what people may otherwise eat.
While data from randomized controlled trials are still limited, initial studies have demonstrated that swapping conventional animal meat for plant-based meat can, in fact, lower cardiovascular disease risk factors, improve gut health, be more conducive to a healthy weight, and support muscle growth.
References
1. NPD. (2019). The Future of Plant-Based Snapshot. The NPD Group.
2. Michel, F.; Hartmann, C.; Siegrist, M. Consumers’ associations, perceptions and acceptance of meat and plant-based meat alternatives. Food Qual. Prefer. 2021, 87, 104063.
3. Cultivated meat, while not yet available outside of Singapore, will match the nutrient composition of conventional meat with precision, though it will have fewer contaminants (e.g., foodborne pathogens and drug residues) than conventional meat. See gfi.org for more information.
4. Moubarac, J., Martins, A., Claro, R., Levy, R., Cannon, G., & Monteiro, C. (2013). Consumption of ultra-processed foods and likely impact on human health. Evidence from Canada. Public Health Nutrition, 16(12), 2240-2248.
5. Poti, J. M., Mendez, M. A., Ng, S. W., & Popkin, B. M. (2015). Is the degree of food processing and convenience linked with the nutritional quality of foods purchased by US households?. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 101(6), 1251–1262.
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8. Fielding, C. J., Havel, R. J., Todd, K. M., Yeo, K. E., Schloetter, M. C., Weinberg, V., & Frost, P. H. (1995). Effects of dietary cholesterol and fat saturation on plasma lipoproteins in an ethnically diverse population of healthy young men. The Journal of Clinical Investigation, 95(2), 611–618.
9. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2022, February 7). Heart disease facts. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved February 17, 2022.
10. Crimarco, A., Springfield, S., Petlura, C., Streaty, T., Cunanan, K., Lee, J., … & Gardner, C. D. (2020). A randomized crossover trial on the effect of plant-based compared with animal-based meat on trimethylamine-N-oxide and cardiovascular disease risk factors in generally healthy adults: Study With Appetizing Plantfood-Meat Eating Alternative Trial (SWAP-MEAT). The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 112(5), 1188-1199.
11. Nogal, A., Valdes, A. M., & Menni, C. (2021). The role of short-chain fatty acids in the interplay between gut microbiota and diet in cardio-metabolic health. Gut Microbes, 13(1), 1–24.
12. Kaczmarczyk, M. M., Miller, M. J., & Freund, G. G. (2012). The health benefits of dietary fiber: beyond the usual suspects of type 2 diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular disease and colon cancer. Metabolism, 61(8), 1058-1066.
13. Anderson, J. W., Baird, P., Davis, R. H., Ferreri, S., Knudtson, M., Koraym, A., … & Williams, C. L. (2009). Health benefits of dietary fiber. Nutrition Reviews, 67(4), 188-205.
14. Anderson, J. W., Baird, P., Davis, R. H., Ferreri, S., Knudtson, M., Koraym, A., … & Williams, C. L. (2009). Health benefits of dietary fiber. Nutrition Reviews, 67(4), 188-205.
15. Toribio-Mateas, M. A., Bester, A., & Klimenko, N. (2021). Impact of Plant-Based Meat Alternatives on the Gut Microbiota of Consumers: A Real-World Study. Foods, 10(9), 2040.
16. Crimarco, A., Springfield, S., Petlura, C., Streaty, T., Cunanan, K., Lee, J., … & Gardner, C. D. (2020). A randomized crossover trial on the effect of plant-based compared with animal-based meat on trimethylamine-N-oxide and cardiovascular disease risk factors in generally healthy adults: Study With Appetizing Plantfood-Meat Eating Alternative Trial (SWAP-MEAT). The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 112(5), 1188-1199.
17. Monteyne, A. J., Coelho, M. O. C., Porter, C., Abdelrahman, D. R., Jameson, T. S. O., Jackman, S. R., Blackwell, J. R., Finnigan, T. J. A., Stephens, F. B., Dirks, M. L., Wall B. T., Mycoprotein ingestion stimulates protein synthesis rates to a greater extent than milk protein in rested and exercised skeletal muscle of healthy young men: a randomized controlled trial. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Volume 112, Issue 2, August 2020, Pages 318–333.
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20. Crimarco, A., Springfield, S., Petlura, C., Streaty, T., Cunanan, K., Lee, J., … & Gardner, C. D. (2020). A randomized crossover trial on the effect of plant-based compared with animal-based meat on trimethylamine-N-oxide and cardiovascular disease risk factors in generally healthy adults: Study With Appetizing Plantfood-Meat Eating Alternative Trial (SWAP-MEAT). The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 112(5), 1188-1199.
21. Norat, T., Lukanova, A., Ferrari, P. and Riboli, E. (2002), Meat consumption and colorectal cancer risk: Dose-response meta-analysis of epidemiological studies. Int. J. Cancer, 98: 241-256.
22. Kyriakopoulou, K., Keppler, J. K., & van der Goot, A. J. (2021). Functionality of Ingredients and Additives in Plant-Based Meat Analogues. Foods, 10, 600.
23. Alternative protein research grants (2021). The Good Food Institute. (2022, February 16). Retrieved February 16, 2022.
24. Antibiotics and animal agriculture: A Primer. The Pew Charitable Trusts. (2016, December 19). Retrieved February 16, 2022.
25. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2021, December 13). National estimates for antibiotic resistance. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved February 16, 2022.
