Abstract
Background
Sales of plant-based foods intended as direct replacements for animal products have
been growing in the United States. Little is known about the nutritional quality of
these products.
Objective
Our aim was to evaluate the nutritional quality of a selection of plant-based ground
beef alternative products available in the US marketplace and compare it with the
nutrient content of ground beef.
Design
We conducted an analysis of the food and nutrient composition information available
for plant-based ground beef alternative products in the 2020 version of the University
of Minnesota Nutrition Coordinating Center Food and Nutrient Database.
Participant/setting
We analyzed a selection of 37 plant-based ground beef alternative products available
in the United States in 2019.
Main outcomes measures
Food product content of energy, macronutrients, fatty acids, vitamins, minerals and
selected additional food components was measured.
Statistical analysis
The percent Daily Value (DV) per 3-ounce cooked portion of each product was determined
for nutrients with a DV. The median, interquartile range (IQR), minimum, and maximum
nutrient values were calculated for all products by classification as vegan and nonvegan.
Results
The median saturated fat content of the plant-based ground beef alternatives products
as a %DV was 4% (IQR 2%). Vitamin and minerals for which median %DV values for plant-based
ground beef alternative products were 10% or higher included folate (10%, IQR 10%),
niacin (21%, IQR 7%), iron (10%, IQR 5%), phosphorous (10%, IQR 4%), sodium (18%,
IQR 7%), manganese (20%, IQR 20%), and copper (24%, IQR 10%). The median dietary fiber
content of the plant-based ground beef alternative products was 15% of the DV (IQR
6%). Most of the products contained less protein, zinc, and vitamin B12 than ground
beef.
Conclusions
The major brands of plant-based ground beef alternative products examined in this
study have nutritional strengths as well as some shortcomings. Additional research
to examine a broader set of plant-based meat alternative products, such as those designed
as substitutes for chicken and pork, is warranted.
Keywords
To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
Purchase one-time access:
Academic & Personal: 24 hour online accessCorporate R&D Professionals: 24 hour online accessOne-time access price info
- For academic or personal research use, select 'Academic and Personal'
- For corporate R&D use, select 'Corporate R&D Professionals'
Subscribe:
Subscribe to Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and DieteticsAlready a print subscriber? Claim online access
Already an online subscriber? Sign in
Register: Create an account
Institutional Access: Sign in to ScienceDirect
References
- What’s for dinner? Hint: It’s not meat. Plant-based meat alternatives in demand. Dupont Nutrition and Health.(Published 2017)
- Food in the anthropocene: The EAT-Lancet Commission on healthy diets from sustainable food systems.Lancet. 2019; 393: 447-492
- Sustainability of plant-based diets: Back to the future.Am J Clin Nutr. 2014; 100: 476S-482S
- Meat consumption, health, and the environment.Science. 2018; 361eaam5324
- Patterns of red and processed meat consumption and risk for cardiometabolic and cancer outcomes: A systematic review and meta-analysis of cohort studies.Ann Intern Med. 2019; 171: 732-741
- Diet quality of vegetarian diets compared with nonvegetarian diets: A systematic review.Nutr Rev. 2019; 77: 144-160
- Systematic review of dietary patterns and sustainability in the United States.Adv Nutr. 2020; 11: 1016-1031
- The prevalence of cobalamin deficiency among vegetarians assessed by serum vitamin B12: A review of literature.Eur J Clin Nutr. 2016; 70: 866
- How prevalent is vitamin B(12) deficiency among vegetarians?.Nutr Rev. 2013; 71: 110-117
- Iron status of vegetarian adults: A review of literature.Am J Lifestyle Med. 2018; 12: 486-498
- The effect of vegetarian diets on iron status in adults: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr. 2018; 58: 1359-1374
- Effect of vegetarian diets on zinc status: A systematic review and meta-analysis of studies in humans.J Sci Food Agric. 2013; 93: 2362-2371
- Zinc status of vegetarians during pregnancy: A systematic review of observational studies and meta-analysis of zinc intake.Nutrients. 2015; 7: 4512-4525
- The effects of vegetarian and vegan diet during pregnancy on the health of mothers and offspring.Nutrients. 2019; 11: 557
- Theoretical food and nutrient composition of whole-food plant-based and vegan diets compared to current dietary recommendations.Nutrients. 2019; 11: 625
- Position of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics: Vegetarian Diets.J Acad Nutr Diet. 2016; 116: 1970-1980
- Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2020-2025. US Department of Agriculture, Department of Health and Human Services. Published December 2020.(Available at:)https://www.dietaryguidelines.gov/Date accessed: March 20, 2021
- Plant-based market overview. The Good Food Institute. Published 2020.https://www.gfi.org/marketresearchDate accessed: October 5, 2020
- Plant-based “meat” is conquering fast food. Here's where you can get meat substitutes like the Beyond Burger and the Impossible Taco. Business Insider. Published October 28, 2019.https://www.businessinsider.nl/burger-king-tgi-fridays-chains-sell-plant-based-meat-2019-5/Date accessed: May 5, 2021
- Plant-based meat substitutes in the flexitarian age: An audit of products on supermarket shelves.Nutrients. 2019; 11: 2603
- Can plant-based meat alternatives be part of a healthy and sustainable diet?.JAMA. 2019; 322: 1547-1548
- Dietary sources of nutrients among US adults, 1994 to 1996.J Am Diet Assoc. 2004; 104: 921-930
- University of Minnesota Nutrition Coordinating Center Food and Nutrient Database [computer program]. Version 2020. University of Minnesota, 2020
- Maintaining a nutrient database in a changing marketplace: Keeping pace with changing food products—A research perspective.J Food Comp Anal. 2001; 14: 315-322
- Procedures for estimating nutrient values for food composition databases.J Food Compost Anal. 1997; 10: 102-114
- Sources of data for developing and maintaining a nutrient database.J Am Diet Assoc. 1988; 88: 1268-1271
- Maintenance of a nutrient database for clinical trials.Control Clin Trials. 1989; 10: 416-425
- Food Labeling: Revision of the Nutrition and Supplement Facts Labels. Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, Title 21, Part 101.2016
- Accuracy and efficiency of estimating nutrient values in commercial food products using mathematical optimization.J Food Comp Anal. 1994; 7: 223-239
- Daily Value on the New Nutrition and Supplement Facts Labels. US Food and Drug Adminisstration. Published May 5, 2020.https://www.fda.gov/food/new-nutrition-facts-label/daily-value-new-nutrition-and-supplement-facts-labelsDate accessed: October 13, 2020
- Part 101 Food Labeling. US Food and Drug Administration. Published October 8, 2020.
- Iron nutrition and absorption: Dietary factors which impact iron bioavailability.J Am Diet Assoc. 1988; 88: 786-790
- Implications of phytate in plant-based foods for iron and zinc bioavailability, setting dietary requirements, and formulating programs and policies.Nutr Rev. 2018; 76: 793-804
- Engineering the animal out of animal products.Nat Biotechnol. 2017; 35: 704-707
- Protein intake trends and conformity with the Dietary Reference Intakes in the United States: Analysis of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2001-2014.Am J Clin Nutr. 2018; 108: 405-413
- 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).Am J Clin Nutr. 2020; 112: 1188-1199
- Dietary Reference Intakes for Energy, Carbohydrate, Fiber, Fat, Fatty Acids, Cholesterol, Protein, and Amino Acids.National Academies Press, 2005
- Separating the wheat from the chaff: Nutritional value of plant proteins and their potential contribution to human health.Nutrients. 2020; 12: 2410
Biography
L. Harnack is a professor, Division of Epidemiology and Community Health, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.
Biography
S. Mork is a communications analyst, US Agency for International Development Contractor, Office of Maternal and Child Health and Nutrition, Global Health Bureau, Global Health Technical Professionals, Public Health Institute, Washington, DC. E-mail: [email protected]
Biography
S. Valluri is a predoctoral fellow, Division of Epidemiology and Community Health, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.
Biography
C. Weber is a research assistant, Division of Epidemiology and Community Health, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.
Biography
K. Schmitz is a database scientist, Nutrition Coordinating Center, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.
Biography
J. Stevenson is a database scientist, Nutrition Coordinating Center, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.
Biography
J. Pettit is a food and nutrient database manager, Nutrition Coordinating Center, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.
Article info
Publication history
Published online: June 02, 2021
Accepted:
May 3,
2021
Received:
January 11,
2021
Footnotes
Supplementary materials: Tables 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 are available at www.jandonline.org
STATEMENT OF POTENTIAL CONFLICT OF INTEREST No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
FUNDING/SUPPORT Supported by grant T32DK083250 from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases at the Division of Epidemiology and Community Health, School of Public Health at the University of Minnesota.
The contents of this article are the responsibility of the authors, and do not reflect the views of the US Agency for International Development or the US Government.
AUTHOR CONTRIBUTIONS K. Schmitz, J. Stevenson, and J. Pettit collected the data. S. Mork, S. Valluri, and C. Weber assembled the analytic data set. S. Mork and C. Weber carried out data analyses. All of the authors reviewed and interpreted data analysis results. L. Harnack, S. Mork, and S. Valluri drafted the paper and all authors reviewed and commented on subsequent drafts of the manuscript.
Identification
Copyright
© 2021 by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.
