There has been a concerted effort over the past decade to create a new generation of foods from alternative (non-animal) protein sources, including plants, mycelia, insects, microbes, and cultured cells. This effort has primarily been driven by growing concerns about the adverse effects of animal-derived proteins (like those from meat, seafood, eggs, and milk) on the environment. Livestock production is a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, pollution, land use, water used, and biodiversity loss. Moreover, it is contributing to the rise of antimicrobial resistance and zoonotic diseases, as well as concerns about animal welfare and human health.
But will any of these alternative protein sources form an important part of the human diet in the near future?
There are advantages and disadvantages associated with each source of alternative proteins. Plant proteins are abundant, scalable, and relatively inexpensive, but it is challenging to create nutritious foods that accurately mimic the desirable sensory attributes of conventional meat, seafood, egg, and dairy products. Protein-rich foods derived from bioreactors (such as mycelia, microbial fermentation, and cultured cells) can overcome some of these challenges, but it is currently challenging to produce them at the cost and scale required to make them economically viable and capable of significantly reducing the consumption of animal-derived products. Many insect species are a nutritious food source, containing high levels of proteins, dietary fibers, vitamins, and minerals, but consumers often find them unappealing.
If alternative proteins are going to have a significant impact on improving the sustainability of the global food supply, it is critical that foods fabricated from them are affordable, convenient, desirable, abundant, and nutritious. This will require substantial and sustained funding from the government, private sector, and non-profit organizations to establish the advanced science and technology needed to rationally design and manufacture these foods on scale.
References
- D.J. McClements (2023). Meat Less: The Next Food Revolution, 350 pages. Springer Scientific, New York.
- D.J. McClements and L. Grossmann (2022). Next-generation Plant-based Foods: Design, Production, and Properties, 572 pages. Springer, New York, NY.
Distinguished Professor at the University of Massachusetts, an Adjunct Professor at Zhejiang Gongshang University, and a Visiting Professor at Harvard University.
Specialized in food biopolymers and colloids, with an emphasis on using structural design principles to improve the quality, safety, shelf-life, sustainability, and nutrition of foods.
His recent research focusses on food nanotechnology, colloidal delivery systems, designing healthier processed foods, and creating next generation plant-based foods.
Author of ten books, including “How to be a Successful Scientist” (2024). “Meat Less: The Next Food Revolution” (2023), “Food Nanotechnology” (2022), “Next Generation Plant-based Foods” (2022), and “Future Foods: How Modern Science is Transforming the Way We Eat” (2019). He has published over 1600 articles in scientific journals (>170,000 citations; H-index 203, Google Scholar, 2024).