The UK government's 2024 food security report notes that the UK population is not meeting the Eatwell Guide (EWG) recommendations for fruits vegetables and fibre more generally. In fact, just 7% of the population met fibre recommendations, and 74% were not eating enough fruits and vegetables.

Calculate 10,20 and 50% alt protein swap in terms of increased fibre

The UK is primarily deficient in:

• Iron
  • Meat is good for these
• Calcium
  • Meat is low in these
  • leafy greens and legumes are great
• Vitamin D
  • Chicken has no vit D
  • Pork and eggs are decent sources
  • Most vegetables contain no vitamin D but mushrooms are often better sources than meat.
• Magnesium
  • Meat is low in these
  • leafy greens and legumes are great
• Selenium
  • pork and eggs are good sources, chicken less so. Most veg contains little selenium.

Increased fibre from alt proteins

• On average, alt proteins contain 3.1-6.0g of fibre per 100g (Espinosa et al., 2024)
• The average person eats 29.2g of pork and 37.4g of poultry according to DEFRA for a total 6.66g a day. If we assume they replace 6.66g of this with alt proteins, that means they're getting
• Average person eats 18g fibre but should be eating 30g

Related

• Boosting UK food security with Alternative Proteins
• Food security in the UK
• A healthy diet is unaffordable in the UK without meat reduction
• Do the global poor need nutrients from animal products
• Plant based diets and micronutrients