Policy Insights from High-Income Countries to Guide Safe, Nutritious, and Sustainable Alternative Proteins for Low- and Middle-Income Countries.

The United Nations has encouraged governments to promote sustainable healthy diets to address undernutrition, obesity, and climate change. This perspective paper examines policy insights from selected high-income countries in Asia, Europe, and North America to understand how traditional and novel alternative proteins (AP) may support sustainable healthy diets in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) where populations experience malnutrition in all forms. AP products must be affordable, locally sustainable, and culturally acceptable to improve diet quality and health.

What Is the Likely Impact of Alternative Proteins on Diet Quality, Health, and the Environment in Low- and Middle-Income Countries.

Alternative protein (AP) foods are proposed to support a global protein transition. Whereas AP food innovation has been a strategy to promote consumption of protein sources with low environmental impact in high-income countries (HICs) diets, their relation to sustainable, high-quality diets in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) remains to be established. AP foods vary in nutrient profile, processing requirements, costs, and environmental impact.