How do Plant-based Burgers Stack Up Against MEAT Burgers in Protein Quality

How do Plant-based Burgers Stack Up Against MEAT Burgers in Protein Quality Professor Hans Stein, Ph.D.
Plant-based burgers often promise protein comparable to their animal-based counterparts, but the way protein is expressed on current nutrition labels – a single generic value expressed in grams – can be misleading. That’s because the human body does not use “protein” per se. Instead, it needs essential amino acids, which are present in proteins, but the concentration and digestibility of amino acids are different among protein sources.

To account for these differences, a new standard for protein quality, the digestible indispensable amino acid score (DIAAS), was developed by the U.N.’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) about a decade ago. It specifically focuses on the digestibility of essential amino acids, and aims to put more accurate tools in the hands of nutritionists and food assistance programs the world over.

A new study from the University of Illinois and Colorado State University leverages the DIAAS system to understand protein quality in beef and pork burgers and plant-based burgers from Impossible™ and Beyond Meat®.