Carbon footprint and land use of food products containing oat protein concentrate

Abstract There is potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by reducing the intake of animal-based proteins. In western countries, the intake of proteins can usually simply be reduced, but substituting even only part of the intake of animal-based proteins with plant-based proteins would also benefit both human health and the environment. The aim of this study was to assess the environmental benefits of using protein-rich side streams from oat beta glucan processing as an ingredient in protein-enriched foods. The environmental impact of food products (bread, pasta, and oatgurt) containing oat protein concentrate (OPC) was assessed using Life Cycle Assessment methodology from cradle-to-processing. The environmental impact was compared with those of regular food products and existing plant protein sources as per kilogram of product (mass) and per kilogram of protein to assess the environmental benefits of novel products. All the ‘high in protein’ versions of foods containing OPC have a nearly equal carbon footprint per kg of protein, and all three products can be used as substitutes for commonly used pasta, bread, and yogurt in the diet. Thus, they all have similar potential to reduce food consumption greenhouse gas emissions. All the foods containing OPC also have very low land use per kg of product compared with the regular products. When products containing OPC are compared with other protein-rich food products, products containing OPC have a smaller carbon footprint per kg of protein compared with animal-based protein sources and a similar footprint with naturally protein-rich plant products like legumes. The potential to reduce the carbon footprint by substituting animal-based protein sources with novel foods containing plant protein concentrates looks promising in the light of these results, as long as the consumption of animal protein sources in the overall diet is reduced at the same time.