Alternative proteins are a global health solution
Conventional protein production contributes to society’s greatest global health challenges: antibiotic resistance and pandemic risk. Plant-based, cultivated, and fermentation-derived proteins can minimize a key driver of risk—using animals for food. Alternative proteins can also provide diverse food options that help consumers meet their personal health goals.
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We cover how alternative proteins can reduce risks of antibiotic resistance and pandemics
Alternative proteins combat the threat of antibiotic resistance
In the United States, approximately 80 percent of medically important antibiotics needed to treat humans are used in conventional meat production to foster animal growth and prevent illness. Globally, most of the increase in antibiotic use is attributable to the meat industry, with chickens receiving three times the amount of antibiotics as cattle.
The widespread use of antibiotics is leading to an increasing number of antibiotic-resistant superbugs, with the rate of multidrug resistance growing worse in low to middle-income countries. By 2050, it is estimated that these superbugs could kill 10 million people a year and cost the global economy $100 trillion.
Plant-based and fermentation-derived foods remove the animal from the equation entirely, reducing the need for antibiotics in protein production. Cultivated meat, real animal meat made from cells, is produced in a clean and controlled environment which offers numerous advantages for product safety and risk management, including a significant reduction of contaminants, foodborne pathogens, antibiotics, and other additives found in farm-raised meat.
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Alternative proteins reduce the risk of new diseases and future pandemics
A 2020 United Nations report named the increased demand for animal protein and livestock farming among the top anthropogenic drivers of emerging zoonotic diseases—viruses that jump from animal hosts to humans and are capable of spreading globally.
Alternative proteins are not susceptible to animal diseases and do not contribute to pandemic risk because they do not require the use of live animals. Alternative proteins can help prevent future pandemics by decoupling food production from conditions associated with zoonotic disease transmission.
Given that global demand for meat, seafood, eggs, and dairy is projected to increase significantly by 2050, diversifying our global protein supply with plant-based, cultivated, and fermentation-enabled proteins will be central to mitigating the risk of future pandemics while feeding a growing population.
Alternative proteins offer personal health benefits in comparison to conventional animal products
Many alternative protein products have similar or better nutritional profiles compared to their conventional animal-based counterparts. Unlike conventional animal products, meat made from plants, cultivated from animal cells, or produced via fermentation does not require nitrates, hormones, or steroids. In addition, animal products have relatively fixed nutrition profiles, whereas scientists are exploring numerous ways to improve the nutritional composition of alternative protein products, including reducing or eliminating the amounts of saturated fats and dietary cholesterol and adding essential nutrients like fiber.
Plant-based meat
Overall, plant-based meats can be healthier than their animal-sourced counterparts. Plant-based meat has zero dietary cholesterol, and most products on the market in the United States have more fiber, less saturated fat, and fewer calories than conventional meat. In the last few years, several studies have been conducted to explore the nutritional advantages of plant-based meat.
- In August 2020, the first significant study to directly compare plant-based meat to animal-based meat was published. Researchers found that consuming plant-based meat products led to statistically significant positive impacts on cholesterol, weight, and heart disease markers among the study’s participants.
- A 2021 randomized controlled trial found that replacing conventional meat with plant-based meat about five times per week increased participants’ weekly fiber consumption by an average of approximately 19 grams and increased fiber-metabolizing pathways in their gut microbiota—considered key to regulating blood pressure, blood glucose, and metabolism. Unlike processed meats (e.g., bacon or hot dogs), alternative proteins do not use nitrites and nitrate preservatives, which produce chemicals that can lead to bowel cancer.
In 2022, a literature review of 40+ studies on the healthiness and environmental sustainability of plant-based meat alternatives compared to animal products underscored the many benefits of plant-based meat. The in-depth review concluded that plant-based alternatives to animal products have been found to offer a wide range of health benefits, including lower cholesterol, improved gut health, and lower risks of cardiovascular disease.
Cultivated meat
Cultivated meat is essentially the same as the beef, pork, chicken, and fish we eat today, but produced directly from cells, without having to grow the whole animal. In facilities similar to breweries, the meat is fed basic nutrients such as amino acids, vitamins, and other proteins. Just as with animal meat, the composition of cultivated meat depends on the conditions in which it grows and what it’s fed. Unlike conventional animal products, cultivated meat is made without the need for antibiotics, hormones, or steroids, and can potentially have an improved nutritional profile, such as reduced saturated fat and cholesterol and more essential vitamins. Optimizing the nutritional characteristics of cultivated meat – like making beef that is rich in omega-3s – is one exciting area of research that greater open-access R&D support can advance.
Fermentation-derived proteins
Precision fermentation has been used in the food industry for decades but has risen in popularity in recent years as one way to produce alternative proteins. It’s a fascinating technology that uses microbes like yeast to produce specific, high-value functional ingredients—things like proteins, vitamins, flavors, and fats. This novel production method makes products that can offer nutritional and health benefits. A 2019 University of Exeter study found that after strenuous exercise, athletes who consumed the mycoprotein used in Quorn’s products increased their muscle growth rates by more than double the rate of athletes who consumed milk protein afterward. Mycoprotein, the main ingredient in all Quorn products, thus appears to be more effective at promoting muscle growth than milk protein.
Related resources
Alternative proteins’ place on the global health agenda
In our Substack publication, Alt Protein Planet, we discuss how alternative proteins can mitigate modern agricultural challenges like the most recent bird flu epidemic.
Alternative proteins for a sustainable, secure, and prosperous future
Alternative proteins create a path to a sustainable, secure, and prosperous future. Policymakers should prioritize investments to improve the quality, affordability, and accessibility of alternative proteins.
Cultivated meat as a tool for fighting antimicrobial resistance
GFI’s Claire Bomkamp on how antibiotic use in livestock and aquaculture production is driving resistance to medically important antibiotics.
Modernizing meat production will help us avoid pandemics
GFI’s Dr. Liz Specht explains how the Covid-19 outbreak stresses the need to change how we make meat.
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