This study evaluates the relationship between environmental impacts and diet quality through several environmental and nutritional indicators, using data from over 1400 participants across seven European countries in the Food4Me study. Comparisons of environmental impacts and dietary quality were evaluated across country, gender groups, and dietary patterns. While there was clear variability within the different subsets, there were large differences observed in both dietary quality and environmental impacts between cultures, genders, and dietary patterns. Individuals abstaining from red meat consistently had lower impacts in combination with lower consumption of harmful nutrients (saturated fats, sodium, and sugars) while maintaining average intake of beneficial nutrients. A ‘best practice’ diet with low impacts, adequate nutrient intake, and low saturated fats, sodium, and sugars, was constructed from the sample and used as a benchmark. Recorded eating patterns were compared to this recommended diet. On average, intakes of sweets, meats, and drinks should be decreased and intakes of vegetables and cereals increased, at varying rates depending on country and gender. However, the study shows a large spread of eating patterns and recommendations for lowering environmental impacts and increasing nutritional quality vary greatly among individuals.
Purpose The food processing industry is a major consumer of energy and water, the consumption of which has environmental impacts. This work develops a method to determine process-specific water use and utilizes an existing energy use toolbox to calculate the energy and water required for each step of food processing. A life cycle assessment (LCA) is conducted to determine how much processing contributes to a particular product's cradle to gate impacts for two impact categories. Methods A method to determine water use at each unit process was developed, and in conjunction with an already developed energy use unit process toolbox, the methods were tested using two case studies. Processing data such as flow rates, operation temperatures, and food losses were used from two Swiss food production facilities. Calculation results were compared to measured facility data such as yearly energy and water use. Results were then used to develop LCAs for a total of seven food products, including five types of juice and two types of potato products. Results and discussionThe toolboxes were able to calculate the water use of both facilities within 25%, the thermal energy use within 9%, and electricity use within 24%. Impacts from processing were particularly important for the potato products, particularly potato flakes, due to impacts stemming from thermal energy use. For juices, impacts due to raw material growth dominate the LCA, and impacts due to processing are much less significant. A unit process analysis may not be necessary when there is little variation in the unit processes between the different products. In this case, a simple allocation of measured facility energy and water data may be sufficient for calculating the impacts associated with processing. However, products with largely varying unit processes may have very different impacts. Impacts are sensitive to the type of energy required (thermal or electrical) and the sources of electricity and water. Conclusions These water and energy toolboxes can improve transparency in processing and identify the most water-and energy-intensive steps; however, in facilities with similar products, such an extensive analysis may not be necessary. Results from these calculations are useful in developing food product LCAs.
To remain within the limits of the planetary boundaries and address increasing disease rates due to poor eating habits, there needs to be a major shift in dietary patterns. The composition of an optimal diet changes depending on location, season, and personalized dietary needs. We develop a methodology to build a 500+ food item, nutrient, and environmental impact database specific to a given country and month, which includes several life cycle stages of a food item and calculates impacts depending on from where the item is sourced. This database is then used to develop a detailed and personalized, healthful, low impact diet by using linear optimization. We applied this methodology to several case studies to compare what low impact diets would look like depending on country (Switzerland vs. Spain), season (August vs. February), sex, the inclusion of dietary supplements, and for different diet types and impact categories (climate change and biodiversity loss). Results indicate that, although optimized diets are similar, there are marked differences in the detailed composition depending on country, season, and impact considered, especially regarding legume choice. The lowest impact diet contained local and imported foods as well as fish. Vegan diets had the lowest impact only when incorporating a supplement to meet nutrient needs. We developed a tool to be used for personalized diet composition assessments for any global geographical location and season. We anticipate this work to be useful for developing countryand season-specific dietary guidelines and for consumers hoping to reduce their own personal impacts. K E Y W O R D Sbiodiversity loss, climate change, diet and health, environmental impact, industrial ecology, optimization INTRODUCTIONFood systems are directly linked to current or future exceedances of many of the planetary boundaries . Combined with changing food demands toward higher meat intake, impacts will increase rather than decrease to the necessary levels to remain within the boundaries.These challenges are compounded by the fact that current consumption patterns are also leading to higher rates of diet related diseases Popkin et al., 2006;Kearney, 2010), with the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) estimating that one in five deaths globally are associated with a poor diet (Afshin et al., 2019). Efforts to link and ultimately reduce both environmental impacts and dietary related disease risk have
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
customersupport@researchsolutions.com
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.