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Plant-based meat substitutes are useful for healthier dietary patterns when adequately formulated – an optimization study in French adults (INCA3)

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Abstract

Purpose

We studied to what extent plant-based meat substitutes could improve the nutritional adequacy and healthiness of dietary patterns, depending on their nutrient composition.

Methods

From diets observed in French adults (INCA3, n = 1125), modeled diets were identified by allowing various dietary changes, between and within food categories, when two plant-based meat substitutes were made available: an average substitute (from 43 market substitutes) and a theoretical nutritionally designed substitute, fortified or not with zinc and iron at 30% or 50% of Nutrient Reference Values. Under each scenario, healthier but acceptable modeled diets were identified using multi-criteria optimization, by maximizing a health criteria related to Dietary Guidelines while minimizing deviation from the observed diets, under constraints for nutrient adequacy.

Results

Without fortification, the average substitute was hardly introduced into modeled diets, whereas the optimized substitute was preferentially introduced, in large amounts, yet together with a moderate reduction of red meat (− 20%). The comparative advantages of the optimized substitute were its higher contribution to vitamins B6 and C, fiber and α-linolenic acid (ALA) intakes, and its lower contribution to sodium intake. When fortified with iron and zinc, substitutes were introduced in larger amounts into modeled diets, with much higher red meat reductions (down to − 90%). The optimized substitute continued to be preferred, leading to healthier modeled diets that deviated less from the observed.

Conclusion

Plant-based meat substitutes can be levers for healthy diets only when well nutritionally designed with enough zinc and iron for a substantial red meat reduction.

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Data availability

The datasets of the INCA3 survey are available at data.gouv.fr.

Abbreviations

ALA:

α-Linolenic acid

ANSES:

French agency for food, environmental and occupational health and safety

CIQUAL:

French information centre on food quality

DD:

Diet departure

HDP:

Healthy dietary pattern

INCA3:

Third individual and national study on food consumption survey

LA:

Linoleic acid

NRV:

Nutrient reference value

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the Nutritional Epidemiology Research Team (EREN) at Université Sorbonne Paris Nord, France for providing the nutritional compositions of plant-based substitutes extracted from the food composition table of the NutriNet-Santé Study.

Funding

The authors report that no funding was received for this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Université Paris-Saclay, AgroParisTech, INRAE, UMR PNCA, 91120, Palaiseau, France

    Marion Salomé, François Mariotti, Alison Dussiot, Jean-François Huneau & Hélène Fouillet

  2. Sorbonne Paris Nord University, Inserm, Inrae, Cnam, Nutritional Epidemiology Research Team (EREN), Epidemiology and Statistics Research Center (CRESS) – University of Paris, 93017, Bobigny, France

    Emmanuelle Kesse-Guyot

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  1. Marion Salomé
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  2. François Mariotti
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Contributions

MS, HF and FM: designed the research; HF: conducted the research; HF, MS and FM analyzed the data; AD, J-FH and EK-G provided methodological support; MS wrote the first draft of the manuscript and all authors provided critical comments on the manuscript. MS, HF and FM had primary responsibility for the final content and all authors have read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to François Mariotti.

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Conflict of interest

MS’s PhD fellowship has been funded in part by a research contract with Terres Univia, the French Inter-branch organization for plant oils and proteins. FM was the scientific leader of this contract. The other authors report no conflicts of interests.

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Salomé, M., Mariotti, F., Dussiot, A. et al. Plant-based meat substitutes are useful for healthier dietary patterns when adequately formulated – an optimization study in French adults (INCA3). Eur J Nutr 62, 1891–1901 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00394-023-03117-9

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