Mapping the evidence of novel plant-based foods: A systematic review of nutritional, health, and environmental impacts in high-income countries

Background: Shifting from current dietary patterns to diets rich in plant-based PB) foods and lower in animal-based foods (ABF) is generally regarded as a suitable strategy to improve nutritional health and reduce environmental impacts. Despite the recent growth in supply and demand of novel plant-based foods (NPBF), a comprehensive overview is lacking. Objectives: The aim of this review is to synthesise available evidence, highlight challenges, inform public health and environmental strategies and inform purposeful political decision making, by systematically searching, analysing and summarising the literature. Methods: We rigorously searched five peer-reviewed databases and grey literature sources for publications (2016 – 2022) that addressed the nutrient composition, health effects, and carbon footprints of NPBF in high-income countries. Results: We identified 57 peer-reviewed and 36 grey literature sources. We observed that NPBF typically have substantially lower environmental impacts than ABF, but the nutritional contents are complex and varied considerably across brands, product type and main primary ingredient. In the limited evidence on the health impacts, shifts from ABF to PB meats were associated with positive health outcomes. However, for PB drinks it was more mixed, with some linked to micronutrient deficiencies. Conclusion: If carefully selected, certain NPBF have the potential to be a healthier and nutrient-rich alternative to ABF, and typically have lower environmental footprints. More disaggregated categorisation of various types of NPBF would be a helpful step in guiding consumers and key stakeholders to make informed decisions. Recommendations: To enable informed policymaking on the inclusion of NPBF in dietary transitions as part of a wider net-zero and health strategy, future priorities should include nutritional food standards, labelling and sub-division/categorisations of NPBF, as well as short and long-term studies evaluating the health impacts on dietary shifts from ABF to NPBF and standardised environmental impact assessments, ideally from independent funders.