ArticleProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America2024
A multicriteria analysis of meat and milk alternatives from nutritional, health, environmental, and cost perspectives.
Article in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 20 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
20 citing papers in PubMed.
- How Are Plant-Based Milk Alternatives Presented Online? A Comparison of Information on Allergens, Nutrients and Sustainability Between Product Types From Selected UK Retailer Websites.Food science & nutrition · 2026Article
- Novel Plant and fungi-based Alternatives Support Nutritional Adequacy of Diets and Reduce Their Environmental Impacts.Current developments in nutrition · 2026Article
- Environmental and economic impact of a vegan versus traditional mediterranean diet: OMNIVEG study.European journal of nutrition · 2026Article
- Comparing meat alternatives for a sustainable food system.NPJ science of food · 2026Article
- Plant-based analogues to meat and dairy for sustainable food systems.The Proceedings of the Nutrition Society · 2026Review
- Plant-based diets for human health with implications for cardiometabolic health, gut microbiome, and nutritional adequacy.Frontiers in nutrition · 2026Review
- Effects of Hydrogen Peroxide Soaking on the Seeds of Different Edible Bean Varieties.Plants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Analyzing Instagram Food and Nutrition Posts Through a Food Literacy Lens: Content Analysis of Instagram Posts.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Article
- Modeled impacts of substituting meat and dairy with plant-based substitutes on risk of nutrient deficiency and chronic disease-related mortality: a microsimulation study in French adults.The American journal of clinical nutrition · 2025Article
- Difference in Motives and Basic Health Behavior of 8799 Children and Adolescents Aged 10-19 Years Following a Vegan, Vegetarian, or Omnivorous Diet.Current developments in nutrition · 2025Article
- How Can Communication about Plant-based Foods Support Sustainable Food System Transformation? Nine Recommendations for Government, Industry and Citizens.Current environmental health reports · 2025Review
- Towards a More Holistic Comparative Assessment of Plant-Based Alternative Beverages and Dairy Milk: A True Cost Accounting Approach.Foods (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Sustainable diets and cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis.EClinicalMedicine · 2025Article
- Mycotoxin-free Aspergillus oryzae strain lineage for alternative and novel protein production at industrial scale.Applied microbiology and biotechnology · 2025Review
- Nova fails to appreciate the value of plant-based meat and dairy alternatives in the diet.Journal of food science · 2025Review
- Dietary guidance on plant-based meat alternatives for individuals wanting to increase plant protein intake.Frontiers in nutrition · 2025Article
- Prevalence, motivations, lifestyle preferences, and basic health behavior among 1,350 vegan, vegetarian, and omnivorous Austrian school teachers and principals.Frontiers in nutrition · 2025Article
- Redefining Protein Quality: Integrating Health Outcomes and Environmental Impacts in the Plant-Animal Protein Debate.Foods (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- A multicriteria analysis of meat and milk alternatives from nutritional, health, environmental, and cost perspectives.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2024Article
- Sustainability of animal-sourced foods and plant-based alternatives.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
1 author.
Funding
Abstract
Reducing meat and dairy intake has been identified as a necessary strategy for mitigating the high environmental impacts food systems are currently having on climate change, biodiversity loss associated with land-use changes, and freshwater use. Having a choice of dedicated meat and milk replacements available to consumers can help in the transition toward more plant-based diets, but concerns about nutritional and health impacts and high costs can impede uptake. Here, we conduct a multicriteria assessment of 24 meat and milk alternatives that integrates nutritional, health, environmental, and cost analyses with a focus on high-income countries. Unprocessed plant-based foods such as peas, soybeans, and beans performed best in our assessment across all domains. In comparison, processed plant-based products such as veggie burgers, traditional meat replacements such as tempeh, and plant milks were associated with less climate benefits and greater costs than unprocessed foods but still offered substantial environmental, health, and nutritional benefits compared to animal products. Our findings suggest that a range of food products exist that when replacing meat and dairy in current diets would have multiple benefits, including reductions in nutritional imbalances, dietary risks and mortality, environmental resource use and pollution, and when choosing unprocessed foods over processed ones also diet costs. The findings provide support for public policies and business initiatives aimed at increasing their uptake.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.