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Why fake meats are MUCH better for the planet than the real thing

They reduce greenhouse gas emissions, need much less land and water, and are more nutritious and sustainable.

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By Mark Waghorn via SWNS

Fake meats are up to ten times better for the planet than the real thing, according to new research.

They reduce greenhouse gas emissions, need much less land and water - and are more nutritious and sustainable.

The products are growing in popularity. They range from faux fish fingers and mock mince or meatballs to 'cheats' chicken.

Scientists calculated environmental "fooprints" of plant-based sausages, burgers and other alternatives are a fifth to less than a tenth smaller than meat equivalents.

Lead author Dr. Michael Clark, of Oxford University, said: "By estimating the environmental impact of food and drink products in a standardized way, we have taken a significant first step towards providing information that could enable informed decision-making.

"We still need to find how best to communicate this information effectively, in order to shift behavior towards more sustainable outcomes, but assessing the impact of products is an important step forward."

It is hoped the findings will benefit consumers, retailers, and policymakers. They are based on an analysis of 57,000 supermarket processed foods in the UK and Ireland.

Roughly 3.5 million people in the UK have gone vegan - about seven percent of the population.

More than a third of Britons say they are interested in giving up meat - believing adopting a plant-based diet is "an admirable thing to do."

A study by the UK'S Food Standards Agency found more than one-in-two people want to make more sustainable decisions on the environmental impacts of foods they eat.

Manufacturers are also setting ambitious net zero greenhouse gas targets. The first study of its kind sheds fresh light on the advantages.

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It used publicly available information on greenhouse gas emissions, land use, and water stress.

The researchers also looked at a phenomenon called 'eutrophication potential' when nutrient-enriched waters cause harmful algal blooms - killing other life.

They combined the four scores into a single composite environmental number per 100g of product.

Co-author Professor Peter Scarborough, also from Oxford, said: "This work is very exciting. For the first time, we have a transparent and comparable method for assessing the environmental footprint of multi-ingredient processed foods.

"These types of foods make up most of the supermarket shopping we do, but until now there was no way of directly comparing their impact on the environment.

"This work could support tools that help consumers make more environmentally sustainable food purchasing decisions.

"More importantly, it could prompt retailers and food manufacturers to reduce the environmental impact of the food supply thereby making it easier for all of us to have healthier, more sustainable diets."

Products made from fruits, vegetables, sugar and flour - such as soups, salads, bread and many breakfast cereals - have low impact scores.

Those containing meat, fish and cheese on the other hand are at the high end of the scale.

Jerky, biltong and other dried beef products are among the worst - typically having over 100g of fresh meat per 100g.

The largest variations occur in meat and their alternatives - along with biscuits and pesto sauces.

Dr. Clark and colleagues say it is important to communicate the message to shoppers and retailers.

It may help shift behaviors without requiring large changes in diets - such as swapping beef for beans.

The study also found sustainable foods also tend to be more nutritious. Plants high in protein, such as soybeans, are common ingredients in fake meats.

But there are exceptions like fizzy drinks which have a low environmental impact but also score poorly for nutritional quality.

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Co-author Professor Jennie Macdiarmid, of Aberdeen University, said: "An important aspect of the study was linking the environmental impacts of composite foods with the nutritional quality, showing some of the synergies and trade-offs between different parameters.

"Using this new method manufacturers can reduce the environmental impact while ensuring a high nutritional quality of products."

The amount of every ingredient in processed foods or drinks is usually known only to the manufacturer.

But in the UK they are legally obliged to provide percentage values for certain ingredients - listed on the packaging in order of size.

It enabled the researchers to map individual ingredients to environmental databases and estimate the impact of each whole product.

They made use of foodDB – a Big Data research platform at Oxford that collects and processes information daily on all products available in 12 online supermarkets in the UK and Ireland.

They also reviewed 570 previous studies which included data from 38,000 farms in 119 countries.

Co-author Dr. Richie Harrington, head of foodDB, said: "Our method fills an information gap on the environmental impacts of multi-ingredient foods.

"The algorithms we developed can estimate the percentage contribution of each individual ingredient within a product and match those ingredients to existing environmental impact databases.

"Applying this methodology to generate impact scores for large numbers of products, we illustrated how this can be used to derive quantifiable insight on the sustainability of those products, and their relationship to their nutritional quality."

The global population will reach almost 10 billion by 2050. Plant-based meats can help feed the world. Meat is basically protein, fat, and water. The study is in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

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