Switching from animal-based to alternative protein diets is important for lowering environmental impact and boosting human health. Food systems in the European Union contribute about 11.3% of all greenhouse gas emissions. Replacing some animal-based proteins with alternatives can greatly reduce the carbon footprint of European diets. This shift can also help protect biodiversity, reduce land use, and improve animal welfare by moving towards more sustainable protein sources.
The Giant Leaps joint special session will discuss different important topics to complement the overall theme of filling knowledge gaps on alternative proteins to accelerate the dietary shift. These different topics will be presented by project partners.
The GIANT LEAPS project mid-term update: filling knowledge gaps on alternative proteins to accelerate the shift toward healthy and sustainable diets – Paul Vos (WUR)
The EU GIANT LEAPS project delivers the strategic innovations, methodologies, and open-access datasets to speed up this dietary shift, in line with the Farm-to-Fork strategy and contributing to the Green Deal target of reaching climate neutrality by 2050.
Consumer acceptance of alternative protein sources for meat and dairy alternatives: Insights from a multi-national study – Fabienne Michel (ETH Zurich)
Shifting consumers diets from animal to plant proteins would be beneficial from an environmental and public health standpoint. Participants from Germany, Finland, Italy, and Serbia, consumers evaluated expected taste, expected healthiness, and expected environmental friendliness of 14 alternative protein sources for the application in meat alternatives and 12 proteins for dairy alternatives.
Solid-state fermentation of alternative protein sources for the development of a meat analogue – Albert Ribas-Agustí (IRTA)
Solid-state fermentation (SSF) with fungi is a promising strategy to enhance the techno-functional properties of alternative protein ingredients. This work evaluated the effect of a sterilization pretreatment and SSF with Pleurotus ostreatus on the techno-functional properties of several protein sources.
Potential of alternative proteins for the nutrient circularity in food systems through the LCA framework – Sergiy, Smetana (DIL)
The use of organic waste as feed substrate can mitigate the environmental impact of products in food systems. The impact and the efficiency of nutrient recycling are not well assessed. Current research provides an insight into the scarce cases of circularity potential assessment of alternative proteins and the methodological approaches that can be further developed to ensure the recycling potential of production systems, relying on organic waste.
Integrating data for nutritional, safety, allergenicity, and environmental assessment of alternative proteins – Clara Talens (AZTI)
Three interconnected key deliverables; data integration and interoperability ontology, cloud architecture platform development, and integration of AI model algorithms are designed to ensure interoperable and accessible data provisions for the alternative protein food industry.
LIKE-A-PRO Project: From niche to mainstream - alternative proteins for everybody and everywhere – Morena Silvestrini (CNTA)
To facilitate a dietary shift towards alternative proteins, the food industry focus must be placed on diversifying the alternative protein sources and developing new appealing products that satisfy consumer demands in terms of wider choice and product quality. This is precisely the main goal of LIKE-A-PRO project, which aims to mainstream alternative proteins making them accessible, available, and acceptable to everybody and everywhere.
For more information about the EFFoST 2024 conference programme you can visit the conference website.