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Systematic Evaluation of Nutrition Indicators for Use within Food LCA Studies

Author

Listed:
  • Marta Bianchi

    (Department of Food and Agriculture, RISE—Research Institutes of Sweden, SE-40229 Gothenburg, Sweden)

  • Anna Strid

    (Department of Internal Medicine and Clinical Nutrition, the Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, 405 30 Gothenburg, Sweden)

  • Anna Winkvist

    (Department of Internal Medicine and Clinical Nutrition, the Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, 405 30 Gothenburg, Sweden
    Sustainable Health, Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine, Umeå University, 90187 Umeå, Sweden)

  • Anna-Karin Lindroos

    (Department of Internal Medicine and Clinical Nutrition, the Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, 405 30 Gothenburg, Sweden
    Swedish Food Agency, SE-75126 Uppsala, Sweden)

  • Ulf Sonesson

    (Department of Food and Agriculture, RISE—Research Institutes of Sweden, SE-40229 Gothenburg, Sweden)

  • Elinor Hallström

    (Department of Food and Agriculture, RISE—Research Institutes of Sweden, SE-40229 Gothenburg, Sweden)

Abstract

Expressing the environmental impact of foods in relation to the nutritional quality is a promising approach in the search for methods integrating interdisciplinary sustainability perspectives. However, the lack of standardized methods regarding how to include nutrient metrics can lead to unharmonized results difficult to interpret. We evaluated nutrient density indexes by systematically assessing the role of methodological variables with the purpose of identifying the index able to rank foods with the highest coherence with the Swedish dietary guidelines. Among 45 variants of the nutrient density index NRF (Nutrient Rich Food), a Sweden-tailored NRF11.3 index, including 11 desirable nutrients and 3 undesirable nutrients, calculated per portion size or 100 kcal with the application of weighting, ranked foods most coherently with the guidelines. This index is suggested to be suitable as complementary functional unit (FU) in comparative life cycle assessment (LCA) studies across food categories. The results clarify implications of methodological choices when calculating nutrient density of foods and offer guidance to LCA researchers on which nutrition metric to use when integrating nutritional aspects in food LCA.

Suggested Citation

  • Marta Bianchi & Anna Strid & Anna Winkvist & Anna-Karin Lindroos & Ulf Sonesson & Elinor Hallström, 2020. "Systematic Evaluation of Nutrition Indicators for Use within Food LCA Studies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(21), pages 1-17, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:21:p:8992-:d:436945
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Natalie Doran-Browne & Richard Eckard & Ralph Behrendt & Ross Kingwell, 2015. "Nutrient density as a metric for comparing greenhouse gas emissions from food production," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 129(1), pages 73-87, March.
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    Cited by:

    1. Annika Carlsson Kanyama & Björn Hedin & Cecilia Katzeff, 2021. "Differences in Environmental Impact between Plant-Based Alternatives to Dairy and Dairy Products: A Systematic Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(22), pages 1-16, November.
    2. Anna Strid & Elinor Hallström & Ulf Sonesson & Josefin Sjons & Anna Winkvist & Marta Bianchi, 2021. "Sustainability Indicators for Foods Benefiting Climate and Health," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(7), pages 1-17, March.

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