Targeting interventions to distinct meat-eating groups reduces meat consumption

Targeted interventions have important under-explored potential for reducing meat consumption. We hypothesized that group-specific interventions targeting reduction for reducer, moderate-hindrance, and strong-hindrance meat eaters would be effective. All participants were randomly assigned to one of three treatment conditions designed for these three meat-eating groups, or to a control condition. Following the intervention, up to 28 days of food diaries were gathered to measure their consumption of animal products, which were weighted according to their greenhouse gas emissions. The targeted interventions significantly outperformed the non-targeted interventions. That is, participants in the group-matched (i.e., targeted) conditions reduced their animal product consumption by 40 g of CO₂ per day on average, which is approximately equivalent to replacing one chicken-based meal with a vegetarian meal per week, whereas participants in the mismatched conditions showed no significant reduction. The findings suggest that diet-related interventions should focus on supporting meat reducers’ existing behavior intentions, whereas emphasizing meat substitution is a more promising approach for habitual (strong-hindrance) meat eaters.     

Analytical approaches of meat authentication in food

Meat industry sector is likely exposed to illegal practices which involve replacement of meat ingredients with other animal species. Meat products are commonly modified during processing, and the cases have been rampant in certain part of the world. Meanwhile, individual consumption patterns are affected by religious belief and health reason. For instance, Muslims and Jews are prohibited from consuming pork and allergic reaction to certain meat species affects choices of meat products. Thus, food authentication is vital as it offers protection to consumers from fraudulent act. Numerous authentication techniques have been developed to tackle food fraud issues. Authentication methods are categorised mainly as targeted analysis which provides quantitative outcome and non-targeted analysis which offers qualitative result. In the present review, both targeted and non-targeted analyses for meat species authentication are discussed based on previous research conducted using these methods and how they serve the purpose for authentication.     

Distinguishing meat reducers from unrestricted omnivores,vegetarians and vegans: A comprehensive comparison of Australian consumers

Meat reducers are a growing but largely unexplored population subgroup in Australia. A comprehensive understanding of individual characteristics associated with meat consumption preferences can help inform strategies aimed at encouraging healthier and more environmentally sustainable food choices. Using online survey data from a nationally representative sample of 2797 Australian food shoppers, this study 1) compares characteristics (dietary, psychosocial and socio-demographic) of consumers with distinct self-identified dietary preferences (unrestricted omnivores, meat reducers, vegetarians and vegans); 2) identifies the psychosocial and socio-demographic predictors of the meat-reducer diet group; and 3) determines whether predictors of the meat-reducer diet group differ based on diet group classification method (i.e. self-identified dietary preferences versus self-reported consumption frequency of animal-source foods). Results reveal that relative to unrestricted omnivores and meat avoiders, meat reducers are unique with respect to their meat consumption behaviours; beliefs regarding the nutritional adequacy and food choice adequacy of meat-free diets; and the relative importance they place on egoistic food choice factors. Considering self-identified dietary preferences, multivariate regressions found that stronger beliefs regarding meat-free diet adequacy and lower importance placed on egoistic food choice factors predict meat reducers relative to unrestricted omnivores; and weaker beliefs regarding meat-free diet adequacy and higher importance placed on egoistic food choice factors predict meat reducers relative to meat avoiders. Findings from this study can provide insight on how to more holistically address the concerns and motivations of consumers with distinct meat consumption preferences.     

肉制品生命周期中温室气体排放及减控措施探析

低碳经济号召下,发展以低能耗、低污染、低排放为基础的低碳食品已成为越来越多人的共识.肉制品是重要的温室气体排放源.本文分析了肉制品生命周期温室气体排放,并且从畜禽养殖、生产加工、食用及废物处置等环节提出了降低肉制品生命周期温室气体排放的技术措施.     

肉类休闲食品品质提升与安全控制研究进展

随着经济的快速发展与人民消费水平的不断提升,肉类休闲食品产业也随之快速发展。肉类休闲食品属于零食的一种,是人们在闲暇时所享用的食品,也是快速消费食品中重要的组成部分之一。肉类休闲食品种类繁多,在味道、便利、营养、口感和健康方面备受人们青睐。与此同时,随着消费理念不断更新,肉类休闲食品品质与食品安全问题日益受到关注。肉类休闲食品在目前的发展面临诸如肉制品的品质较低等问题,因此需要提升其品质,尤其是在减盐、减糖、减脂、增鲜等方面。在食品加工中存在一些危害物等安全隐患,如化学性、物理性及加工伴生危害物等,需要建立起检测技术和控制技术以做到安全控制。基于此,文章系统性总结了肉类休闲食品品质提升的方法及安全控制领域近十年来的研究进展,以期为肉类休闲食品品质安全保证及产业升级提供借鉴与参考,进而促进肉类休闲食品产业的高质量发展。     

Reducing individual meat consumption: An integrated phase model approach

The aim of this study is to identify the factors involved in reducing meat consumption. Meat consumption is a major contributor to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and thus to climate change. Since meat consumption is a voluntary form of behavior, and since only 1.4 percent of the Swiss population are strict vegetarians, there is considerable potential for behavioral change. We propose an integrated and dynamic model based on a theory of planned behavior and a phase model of behavioral change to identify the factors involved in encouraging behavioral change and to discuss their practical implications. Our findings, based on a representative survey applying a multi-nominal logit approach, suggest that it is mainly attitude, perceived behavioral control, personal norms and problem-awareness that have significant impacts on the phase an individual has reached in a process of behavioral change (pre-decision, pre-action, action and post-action). The theoretical, empirical and practical implications discussed here will increase our understanding of the effectiveness of interventions aimed at reducing meat consumption. This should aid public authorities, policy-makers and marketing professionals in deciding how to promote a meat-reduced diet by choosing the most promising factors for behavioral change.     

Dietary emissions patterns and their effect on the overall climatic impact of food consumption

Food consumption is responsible for a considerable proportion of greenhouse gas emissions (GHGE). This study aimed to determine whether different dietary emission patterns (EPs) are evident in the Irish population. Respondents of the national nutritional survey were segmented using cluster analysis based on GHGE generated from food groups; thereby profiling similarities in how emissions were attained. Three distinct EPs were observed: Unsustainable, Culturally Sustainable, and Nutritionally Sustainable. The Unsustainable pattern had a significantly greater climatic impact; generating significantly higher emissions from processed meat, alcohol, carbonated beverages and savoury snacks, but significantly lower emissions from dairy.Total GHGE did not differ significantly between the Culturally Sustainable and the Nutritionally Sustainable despite the latter deriving significantly lower emissions from red meat. Nevertheless, the Nutritionally Sustainable pattern adhered to more dietary guidelines than other EPs. The results imply that policy instruments should be holistic in naturerather than concentrating on individual food groups.     

Environmental impact judgments of meat,vegetarian, and insect burgers: Unifying the negative footprint illusion and quantity insensitivity

Climate-related risks for natural and human systems increase with global warming. Meat production contributes considerably to global greenhouse gas emissions. Changes in consumption patterns can help reduce this impact – e.g., by replacing meat with plant or insect-based alternatives. For this to happen, it is important to understand how such products are perceived in terms of their environmental impact. Two cognitive biases – the negative footprint illusion and quantity insensitivity – have been shown to affect this perception. The present study (N = 501; M_Age = 47.8, SD = 16.8; 48.9% female) tries to replicate both biases in the context of meat, vegetarian, and insect burgers. In an online experiment, participants viewed pictures of a variety of meals and rated their environmental impact on a “carbon footprint scale” (between-subject design). We found that footprint ratings of a prototypic fast food meal consisting of fries, water, and either a vegetarian or an insect burger did not significantly differ from the ratings given to the meal without the burger (“negative footprint illusion”), while the addition of a meat burger increased the rating. Furthermore, we found that participants’ judgments were insensitive to the quantity of the presented burgers, and they reacted only to the type of the burger patty (“quantity insensitivity”). We did not find that “green consumer values” – the tendency to express the value of environmental conservation through one’s purchase and consumption behavior – influenced the estimation. Throughout all conditions, beef burgers consistently received higher footprint ratings than vegetarian and insect burgers. While we could not strictly replicate the original results, we conclude that our findings are still consistent with previous studies and can enrich the understanding of the underlying cognitive processes causing them. Specifically, we propose that both biases can be attributed to the same general-purpose heuristic of intuitive judgment – namely, “attribute substitution”, and the “prototype heuristic” in particular.     

食物系统的温室气体排放及其减排策略研究进展

食物系统是一个由食物生产、加工、分配、制备和消费相关的所有要素和活动组成的复杂巨系统,其贡献了全球34%的温室气体排放,成为全球气候变化最大的驱动力之一。本文采用文献分析法,从评价方法、系统评价、减排策略和不确定性分析4 个层面综述食物系统温室气体排放研究进展,提出在未来研究中亟需从准确评价各国居民膳食消费量、完善碳足迹核算系统边界、使用区域本地化碳足迹参数3 个方面提高评价结果的准确性,以期为实现食物系统低碳可持续转型提供理论依据。     

Implications of domestic food practices for the presence of bioactive components in meats with special reference to meat-based functional foods

ABSTRACT

Although an essential component of the diet, the consumption of meat is in question. Meat is a major source of beneficial compounds but it also contains other substances with negative health implications. Functional foods, which are leading trends in the food industry, constitute an excellent opportunity for the meat sector to improve healthier meat options. Most studies on meat-based functional foods have focused mainly on the application of different strategies (animal production practices and meat transformation systems) to improve (increase/reduce) the presence of bioactive (healthy/unhealthy) compounds; these have led to the development of numerous products, many of them by the meat industry. However, like other foods, after purchase meats undergo certain processes before they are consumed, and these affect their composition. Although domestic handling practices can significantly alter the make-up of the marketed product in terms of healthy/unhealthy compounds, there are very few studies on their consequences. This article provides an overview of the influence of different domestic practices (from shopping to eating) habitually followed by consumers on the presence of, and consequently on the levels of exposure to, (healthy and unhealthy) food components associated with the consumption of meats, with special reference to meat-based functional foods.     

Food-miles and the relative climate impacts of food choices in the United States

Despite significant recent public concern and media attention to the environmental impacts of food, few studies in the United States have systematically compared the life-cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with food production against long-distance distribution, aka "food-miles." We find that although food is transported long distances in general (1640 km delivery and 6760 km life-cycle supply chain on average) the GHG emissions associated with food are dominated by the production phase, contributing 83% of the average U.S. household's 8.1 t CO2e/yr footprint for food consumption. Transportation as a whole represents only 11% of life-cycle GHG emissions, and final delivery from producer to retail contributes only 4%. Different food groups exhibit a large range in GHG-intensity; on average, red meat is around 150% more GHG-intensive than chicken or fish. Thus, we suggest that dietary shift can be a more effective means of lowering an average household's food-related climate footprint than "buying local." Shifting less than one day per week's worth of calories from red meat and dairy products to chicken, fish, eggs, or a vegetable-based diet achieves more GHG reduction than buying all locally sourced food.     

Nonmeat Protein Alternatives as Meat Extenders and Meat Analogs

Abstract: The direct consumption of vegetable proteins in food products has been increasing over the years because of animal diseases, global shortage of animal protein, strong demand for wholesome and religious (halal) food, and economic reasons. The increasing importance of legume and oilseed proteins in the manufacturing of various functional food products is due to their high‐protein contents. However, the greatest obstacle to utilizing these legumes and oilseeds is the presence of antinutrients; but these antinutrients can be successfully removed or inactivated by employing certain processing methods. In contrast, the potential negative impact of the antinutrients is partially balanced by the fact that they may have a health‐promoting role. Legumes and oilseeds provide well‐balanced amino acid profiles when consumed with cereals. Soybean proteins, wheat gluten, cottonseed proteins, and other plant proteins have been used for texturization. Texturized vegetable proteins can extend meat products while providing an economical, functional, and high‐protein food ingredient or can be consumed directly as a meat analog. Meat analogs are successful because of their healthy image (cholesterol free), meat‐like texture, and low cost. Mycoprotein is fungal in origin and is used as a high‐protein, low‐fat, health‐promoting food ingredient. Mycoprotein has a good taste and texture. Texturized vegetable proteins and a number of mycoprotein products are accepted as halal foods. This article summarizes information regarding the molecular, nutritional, and functional properties of alternative protein sources to meat and presents current knowledge to encourage further research to optimize the beneficial effects of alternative protein sources.     

2010年肉类食品工业发展面临的形势和任务

中国是肉类生产和消费大国,肉制品加工业也是我国的优势产业之一。2010年我国肉类食品工业面临着新的机遇和挑战,应加快肉类食品工业的发展步伐,推广国际先进水平的生产装备和工艺技术,从整体上提升肉类生产水平。本文综述了肉类食品产业发展所面临的形势和任务。     

Situational appropriateness of meat products,meat substitutes and meat alternatives as perceived by Dutch consumers

The development of meat substitutes could contribute to a more sustainable food production system. Although the consumption of meat substitutes in the Netherlands has grown over the last decades, meat consumption stayed roughly the same. This led to the question of whether meat substitutes fit in the same usage situations as meat products do. Perceived situational appropriateness of meat, meat substitutes and other meat alternatives in different usage situations was studied using an item-by-use appropriateness survey. Products were presented via photographs and for each combination of product and situation, the appropriateness was rated on a 7-point scale. Personal information included the consumption of meat and meat substitutes and Food Neophobia. An exploratory survey was conducted in 2004 and an online survey in 2019.Overall, meat products were perceived as more appropriate than their vegetarian equivalents (e.g. hamburger vs. vegetarian hamburger) in almost all situations. Meat alternatives (chickpeas, nuts) scored generally higher than meat substitutes on situational appropriateness. Age and gender affected appropriateness ratings: women and younger respondents gave higher ratings to meat substitutes and meat alternatives. Food Neophobia showed a small effect. Meat substitute consumption frequency was a predictor of overall appropriateness in 2019, where it was not in 2004. Results underpin that situational appropriateness and consumer characteristics should be taken into account in new product development of meat substitutes. Furthermore, meat alternatives like chickpeas and nuts could also contribute to the reduction of meat consumption.     

Research Developments in Methods to Reduce the Carbon Footprint of the Food System: A Review

Global warming is a worldwide issue with its evident impact across a wide range of systems and sectors. It is caused by a number of greenhouse gases (GHGs) emissions, in which food system has made up of a large part. Recently, reduction of GHG emissions has become an urgent issue to be resolved in the food system. Many governments and organizations are making great endeavors to alleviate the adverse effect of this phenomenon. In this review, methods to reduce the carbon footprint within the life cycle of a food system are presented from the technical, consumption behavior and environmental policies perspectives. The whole food system including raw material acquisition, processing, packaging, preservation, transportation, consumption, and disposal are covered. Improving management techniques, and adopting advanced technology and equipment are critical for every stage of a food system. Rational site selection is important to alleviate the influence of land use change. In addition, environmental choices of packaging stage, reduction in refrigeration dependence, and correct waste treatment are essential to reduce the total carbon footprint of the production. However, only technical methods cannot radically reverse the trend of climate change, as consumption behaviors present a great deal of influence over climate change. Appropriate purchase patterns and substitution within food product categories by low carbon products can reduce GHG emissions. Development of methods to calculate the carbon footprint of every kind of food and its processing technology enable people to make environmental choice. Policy can shape and cultivate the new code of consumption and influence the direction of emerging technology and science. From political perspectives, government intervention and carbon offset are common tools, especially for carbon tax and a real or implicit price of carbon. Finally, by mitigating the methodologies described above, the rate and magnitude of climate changes can be also reduced to some extent.     

肉制品掺假鉴别技术研究进展

肉制品在食品消费中占很大比例,近年来,肉制品掺假问题日益严重,肉制品掺假鉴别和溯源分析成为研究热点。传统的通过感官及形态的肉类鉴别方法已经不能满足肉类掺假鉴别的需要。随着现代分析仪器和生物技术的发展,多种蛋白质分析法、DNA分析法和无损检测方法日趋成熟。基于蛋白质的检测方法,如免疫分析法和色谱分析法均可定量检测,但不适用于加工肉制品。基于样品特征光谱的无损检测方法操作简单,检测时间短,具有独特的优势。基于DNA的检测方法,特别是荧光定量PCR方法具有检测灵敏度高,结果重复性好等优势,将成为未来肉类物种鉴别的发展方向,具有很好的应用前景。     

Carbon footprint of Canadian dairy products: Calculations and issues

The Canadian dairy sector is a major industry with about 1 million cows. This industry emits about 20% of the total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the main livestock sectors (beef, dairy, swine, and poultry). In 2006, the Canadian dairy herd produced about 7.7 Mt of raw milk, resulting in about 4.4 Mt of dairy products (notably 64% fluid milk and 12% cheese). An integrated cradle-to-gate model (field to processing plant) has been developed to estimate the carbon footprint (CF) of 11 Canadian dairy products. The on-farm part of the model is the Unified Livestock Industry and Crop Emissions Estimation System (ULICEES). It considers all GHG emissions associated with livestock production but, for this study, it was run for the dairy sector specifically. Off-farm GHG emissions were estimated using the Canadian Food Carbon Footprint calculator, (cafoo)²-milk. It considers GHG emissions from the farm gate to the exit gate of the processing plants. The CF of the raw milk has been found lower in western provinces [0.93 kg of CO₂ equivalents (CO₂e)/L of milk] than in eastern provinces (1.12 kg of CO₂e/L of milk) because of differences in climate conditions and dairy herd management. Most of the CF estimates of dairy products ranged between 1 and 3 kg of CO₂e/kg of product. Three products were, however, significantly higher: cheese (5.3 kg of CO₂e/kg), butter (7.3 kg of CO₂e/kg), and milk powder (10.1 kg of CO₂e/kg). The CF results depend on the milk volume needed, the co-product allocation process (based on milk solids content), and the amount of energy used to manufacture each product. The GHG emissions per kilogram of protein ranged from 13 to 40 kg of CO₂e. Two products had higher values: cream and sour cream, at 83 and 78 kg of CO₂e/kg, respectively. Finally, the highest CF value was for butter, at about 730 kg of CO₂e/kg. This extremely high value is due to the fact that the intensity indicator per kilogram of product is high and that butter is almost exclusively fat. Protein content is often used to compare the CF of products; however, this study demonstrates that the use of a common food component is not suitable as a comparison unit in some cases. Functionality has to be considered too, but it might be insufficient for food product labeling because different reporting units (adapted to a specific food product) will be used, and the resulting confusion could lead consumers to lose confidence in such labeling. Therefore, simple units might not be ideal and a more comprehensive approach will likely have to be developed.     

Storage Stability of Food Protein Hydrolysates—A Review

In recent years, mainly due to the specific health benefits associated with (1) the discovery of bioactive peptides in protein hydrolysates, (2) the reduction of protein allergenicity by protein hydrolysis, and (3) the improved protein digestibility and absorption of protein hydrolysates, the utilization of protein hydrolysates in functional foods and beverages has significantly increased. Although the specific health benefits from different hydrolysates are somewhat proven, the delivery and/or stability of these benefits is debatable during distribution, storage, and consumption. In this review, we discuss (1) the quality changes in different food protein hydrolysates during storage; (2) the resulting changes in the structure and texture of three food matrices, i.e., low moisture foods (LMF, a_w < 0.6), intermediate moisture foods (IMF, 0.6 ≤ a_w < 0.85), and high moisture foods (HMF, a_w ≥ 0.85); and (3) the potential solutions to improve storage stability of food protein hydrolysates. In addition, we note there is a great need for evaluation of biofunction availability of bioactive peptides in food protein hydrolysates during storage.