Food-Based Dietary Guidelines and Protein Quality Definitions—Time to Move Forward and Encompass Mycoprotein?

Abstract

Food-Based Dietary Guidelines (FBDG) lack uniformity globally, with the integration of protein food sources being highly variable. Protein guidance tends to be dichotomous, e.g., animal versus plant with other categories such as fungal proteins being overlooked. In 2019 the EAT Lancet Food in the Anthropocene report was a chief driver questioning the need to supply healthy diets from sustainable food systems. Some countries are developing FBDG that integrate these aspects, but these are quite often protracted, too subtle or misaligned with other countries, diluting the effects of meaningful global change. Protein quality metrics also underpin the dissemination of dietary guidance. However, for protein, these remain based on a food’s essential amino acid profile and digestibility scores, thus are nutritionally and physiologically centric. It has been proposed that this definition is becoming increasingly myopic from a wider societal perspective. Updated indices should include contemporary issues such as protein diversity and environmental outcomes. Taken together, there is opportunity for renewed thinking about both FBDG and protein quality definitions, with scope to include both health and environmental outcomes and need to move towards the concept of protein diversification.

Fungal-Derived Mycoprotein and Health across the Lifespan: A Narrative Review

“…Mycoprotein has been positioned as a fungal protein that is high-fibre, protein rich and produced sustainably [ 65 ]. Given this, it has been questioned whether fungal-derived food protein such as mycoprotein should be included more prominently within food-based dietary guidelines [ 11 , 12 ].…”

“…Fungi are a predominant and diverse component of the Earths ecosystems [ 9 ]. Increasingly, fungi are being seen as a ‘Third Kingdom’ of organisms and valuable food protein outside the classical categories of animal and plant-derived foods [ 10 , 11 , 12 ].…”

“…From a nutritional stance mycoprotein provides a range of nutrients of value across the lifespan. It provides the nine main essential amino acids and has a protein digestibility-corrected amino acid score of 0.996 indicating that it is a high-quality protein [ 11 , 23 ]. According to European Commission standards mycoprotein can be classified as being ‘high in fibre ‘due to it providing at least 6g of fibre per 100 g [ 24 , 25 ].…”

Recent Advances in the Allergic Cross-Reactivity between Fungi and Foods

“…Nowadays, mycoprotein is produced at a large-scale using fermentation methods and commercially available in the USA, Europe, Asia, and Australia [69,70]. However, edible fungal proteins obtained mainly from Fusarium venenatum and Aspergillus, which are not mainstream edible fungi in China.…”

Dietitians’ attitudes towards meat-alternatives in food-based dietary guidelines: findings from a survey

“…Further research should be undertaken to validate these findings with a wider sample of healthcare professionals and shared with policymakers. Plant-forward diets, and those containing meat- alternatives, including fungal proteins, are being encouraged by thought-leaders around the world in order to ensure sustainable, healthy food systems that are able to feed a growing global population in a world facing resource constraints and climate change (3,4) .…”