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Integrating Protein Quality and Quantity with Environmental Impacts in Life Cycle Assessment

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  • Andrew Berardy

    (Swette Center for Sustainable Food Systems, Arizona State University, 800 Cady Mall, Tempe, AZ 85281, USA)

  • Carol S. Johnston

    (College of Health Solutions, Arizona State University, 550 N 3rd St, Phoenix, AZ 85004, USA)

  • Alexandra Plukis

    (School of Computing, Informatics, and Decision Systems Engineering, Arizona State University, 699 S Mill Ave, Tempe, AZ 85281, USA)

  • Maricarmen Vizcaino

    (College of Health Solutions, Arizona State University, 550 N 3rd St, Phoenix, AZ 85004, USA)

  • Christopher Wharton

    (College of Health Solutions, Arizona State University, 550 N 3rd St, Phoenix, AZ 85004, USA)

Abstract

Life cycle assessment (LCA) evaluates environmental impacts of a product from material extraction through disposal. Applications of LCA in evaluating diets and foods indicate that plant-based foods have lower environmental impacts than animal-based foods, whether on the basis of total weight or weight of the protein content. However, LCA comparisons do not differentiate the true biological value of protein bioavailability. This paper presents a methodology to incorporate protein quality and quantity using the digestible indispensable amino acid score (DIAAS) when making comparisons using LCA data. The methodology also incorporates the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) reference amounts customarily consumed (RACCs) to best represent actual consumption patterns. Integration of these measures into LCA provides a mechanism to identify foods that offer balance between the true value of their protein and environmental impacts. To demonstrate, this approach is applied to LCA data regarding common protein foods’ global warming potential (GWP). The end result is a ratio-based score representing the biological value of protein on a GWP basis. Principal findings show that protein powders provide the best efficiency while cheeses, grains, and beef are the least efficient. This study demonstrates a new way to evaluate foods in terms of nutrition and sustainability.

Suggested Citation

  • Andrew Berardy & Carol S. Johnston & Alexandra Plukis & Maricarmen Vizcaino & Christopher Wharton, 2019. "Integrating Protein Quality and Quantity with Environmental Impacts in Life Cycle Assessment," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(10), pages 1-11, May.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:10:p:2747-:d:230972
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Nijdam, Durk & Rood, Trudy & Westhoek, Henk, 2012. "The price of protein: Review of land use and carbon footprints from life cycle assessments of animal food products and their substitutes," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(6), pages 760-770.
    2. Patrik J G Henriksson & Reinout Heijungs & Hai M Dao & Lam T Phan & Geert R de Snoo & Jeroen B Guinée, 2015. "Product Carbon Footprints and Their Uncertainties in Comparative Decision Contexts," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(3), pages 1-11, March.
    3. David Tilman & Michael Clark, 2014. "Global diets link environmental sustainability and human health," Nature, Nature, vol. 515(7528), pages 518-522, November.
    4. Peter Scarborough & Paul Appleby & Anja Mizdrak & Adam Briggs & Ruth Travis & Kathryn Bradbury & Timothy Key, 2014. "Dietary greenhouse gas emissions of meat-eaters, fish-eaters, vegetarians and vegans in the UK," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 125(2), pages 179-192, July.
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