Alternative proteins: plant-based, fermentation, cultivated
Alternative proteins: plant-based meat and milk, biomass and precision fermentation, cultivated meat, insects, footprints, costs, regulation and India.
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Global demand for meat, milk and eggs is still rising as incomes grow. Livestock already use about three-quarters of agricultural land, including land for feed crops, while supplying a much smaller share of the world's calories and around a third to two-fifths of its protein. Livestock are also a major source of methane and nitrous oxide. Alternative proteins, foods that replace or mimic animal products using plants, microbes or animal cells, aim to supply similar foods with a smaller footprint.
The field grew quickly in the 2010s. Investment surged, plant-based burgers appeared in fast-food chains, and in 2020 Singapore became the first country to approve cultivated (cell-cultured) meat for sale. Since about 2021, the hype has cooled. Plant-based meat sales stalled in some markets, and cultivated meat remains expensive and tiny in volume. Understanding what each technology can and cannot do is now more useful than optimism or dismissal.
Plant-based proteins
Plant-based meats and milks use proteins from soy, pea, wheat (gluten), chickpea, fava bean, rice, oats and others.
- Plant-based meats are made by high-moisture extrusion and other texturising processes, which align proteins into meat-like fibres. Fats, flavours, binders such as methylcellulose, and colours such as beetroot are added to mimic meat. Examples include burgers, sausages, nuggets and mince.
- Plant-based milks, from soy, oat, almond, rice and coconut, are the most established category. Many are fortified with calcium and vitamins B12 and D.
- Traditional plant proteins, such as tofu, tempeh, seitan, and pulses in dal, have been eaten for centuries. They remain among the cheapest and lowest-footprint protein sources.
Nutrition varies by product. Some plant-based meats are high in salt and are ultra-processed. Pulses and soy give good-quality protein, especially when combined with cereals.
Fermentation
There are three kinds of fermentation in alternative proteins:
- Traditional fermentation uses microbes to transform plant foods, as in tempeh, miso and idli.
- Biomass fermentation grows microbes for their own protein-rich biomass. Mycoprotein from the fungus Fusarium venenatum has been sold as Quorn since 1985. Other companies grow fungi, algae or bacteria, including gas-fermenting bacteria fed with hydrogen and CO2.
- Precision fermentation programs microbes such as yeasts, Pichia or Trichoderma to make specific proteins. Examples include whey protein (β-lactoglobulin), casein, egg white protein, and the leghaemoglobin that gives some plant-based burgers a "bleeding" look. These ingredients are identical or near-identical to animal proteins and are already sold in some markets.
Cultivated meat
Cultivated meat is grown from animal cells in bioreactors:
- Cells are taken from an animal by biopsy, or from established cell lines.
- They are multiplied in a growth medium containing amino acids, sugars, salts, vitamins and growth factors. Early work used foetal bovine serum, but serum-free media are now used.
- Cells are differentiated into muscle and fat, sometimes on scaffolds.
- They are harvested and formed into products, often blended with plant ingredients.
Approvals
- Singapore approved cultivated chicken in 2020.
- The USA approved two companies' cultivated chicken in 2023.
- Israel approved cultivated beef in 2024.
- Other countries are reviewing applications.
- Italy and several US states, including Florida and Alabama, have banned cultivated meat sales.
Challenges
- Cost: growth media and bioreactor capacity are expensive. Prices remain far above conventional meat except in small, often subsidised volumes.
- Scale-up: producing millions of tonnes would need enormous sterile bioreactor capacity.
- Energy: life-cycle studies suggest cultivated meat could have a higher carbon footprint than chicken or pork if powered by fossil energy and if highly purified media are used. With renewable energy, its footprint could fall well below that of beef.
Insects
Crickets, mealworms and black soldier fly larvae are high in protein and convert feed efficiently. The EU has authorised several insect species for food. Insects are traditional foods in parts of Asia, Africa and Latin America, including north-east India. Their biggest current market is animal feed: insect meal for fish and poultry, fed on food waste.
Footprints compared
Poore and Nemecek (2018) analysed about 38,700 farms. Per 100 g of protein, median greenhouse gas emissions were about 50 kg CO2e for beef from beef herds, 6 kg for poultry and 0.4 kg for peas.
Land for 100 g of protein
Using Poore and Nemecek's median values, producing 100 g of protein from beef-herd beef uses about 164 m2 of land for a year. Tofu needs about 2.2 m2, and peas about 3.4 m2. Replacing 100 g of beef protein with tofu protein each day for a year saves roughly (164 − 2.2) × 365 ≈ 59,000 m2-years, about the area of eight football pitches farmed for a year. Most of the savings come from avoiding pasture and feed crops. Poultry and dairy fall in between, and plant-based meat products sit close to their raw plant ingredients, plus processing energy.
Alternative proteins and India
India's situation differs from that of Western markets:
- A large share of protein already comes from pulses, dairy and cereals, and many people are vegetarian.
- Interest centres on plant-based dairy and meat for urban consumers, export ingredients from pulses, and smart proteins supported under the government's BioE3 policy (2024).
- Regulation is through FSSAI. Cultivated meat has not been approved for sale.
- For India, the bigger protein priority may be raising pulse production and affordability, which is itself an alternative protein strategy.
Key points
- Alternative proteins replace or mimic animal foods using plants, fermentation, animal cells or insects.
- Plant-based meat uses extrusion of soy, pea and wheat proteins; plant milks are the most established category.
- Fermentation can be traditional, biomass (mycoprotein, Quorn since 1985) or precision (whey, casein, egg proteins, leghaemoglobin).
- Cultivated meat is grown from animal cells in bioreactors. It was approved in Singapore (2020), the USA (2023) and Israel (2024), and banned in Italy and some US states. Cost and scale are the main barriers.
- Plant proteins have much lower GHG and land footprints than ruminant meat (Poore and Nemecek, 2018). Cultivated meat's footprint depends on its energy source.
- In India, pulses and dairy dominate protein supply. Smart proteins are supported under BioE3, and FSSAI regulates the sector.
What the exams ask
- Classify alternative proteins and give examples of each.
- Explain precision fermentation and cultivated meat production.
- Compare the environmental footprints of protein sources.
- Discuss the barriers to cultivated meat.
- Assess the relevance of alternative proteins for India.
Described in general terms: the kind of examination, not a past paper. Laisha never reproduces exam questions.
Questions people ask
Are plant-based meats healthy?
It depends on the product. Many supply good protein and fibre and contain no cholesterol, but some are high in salt and saturated fat (from coconut oil) and are heavily processed. Whole plant proteins, such as pulses, tofu and nuts, have the strongest health evidence. Processed alternatives can be a reasonable swap for processed meats.
Is cultivated meat vegetarian?
It is made from animal cells, so it is animal meat, though no animal is slaughtered to produce each batch. Whether vegetarians accept it depends on their reasons; many do not. Religious authorities differ in their views.
Will alternative proteins hurt livestock farmers?
In the short term, impacts are small, because volumes remain low. In the long run, competition could affect some livestock markets. Livestock also provide manure, draught power, savings and a living for hundreds of millions of smallholders, so transitions need to be fair and gradual.
Sources
- Poore, J. and Nemecek, T. "Reducing food's environmental impacts through producers and consumers." Science 360, 987–992 (2018).
- Good Food Institute. State of the Industry Reports: Plant-Based, Fermentation and Cultivated Meat. GFI, Washington DC, 2024.
- Sinke, P. et al. "Ex-ante life cycle assessment of commercial-scale cultivated meat production in 2030." International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment 28, 234–254 (2023).
- FAO. Food Safety Aspects of Cell-Based Food. FAO and WHO, Rome, 2023.
- van Huis, A. et al. Edible Insects: Future Prospects for Food and Feed Security. FAO Forestry Paper 171. FAO, Rome, 2013.
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