The Study
‘Do plant-based meats offer a steppingstone towards healthier choices? A cross-sectional audit of the UK market’
This study didn't follow people eating these foods — it just looked at the labels on the packages in the supermarket. So we know what's in the food, but we don't know if eating it makes people healthier or sicker.
Analysis score
Maximum 44 for a cross-sectional study.
Where the score came from
Scientists checked if plant-based meat alternatives (like veggie burgers) are better for you than real meat by looking at their ingredients, price, and nutrition labels in UK stores.
Where does this study sit?
Reviews of RCTs (Meta-analyses)
Max 100Randomized Trials
Max 90Reviews of Cohort Studies
Max 85Cohort Studies
Max 72Reviews of Case-Control Studies
Max 63Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional & Case Series
Max 50Expert Opinion
Max 544 / 100
Quality score
Snapshots of a population at a single point in time, or descriptions of small groups. Can identify correlations and prevalence, but cannot determine cause and effect.
Key takeaways
Summary
Based on the study abstract and findings.
- 1Even though they're highly processed, plant-based meats often score better on nutrition than regular meat — but their high salt and high price could be problems for health and access.
- 2Plant-based meats have less fat and more fiber (up to 10x more!) than real meat, but often have 2–3x more salt.
- 379% of plant-based meats were labeled 'healthier' by official standards, while only 39% of regular meat were.
- 4They cost 20–56% more in some categories.
Score breakdown, methodology, conflicts of interest, evidence analysis & raw study data
Publication
Journal
Journal of Nutritional Science
Year
2026
Authors
M. Flint, Simon Bowles, Jenny R. Paxman, A. Lynn
Related Content
Claims (7)
Nutrient scoring systems assign higher health scores to plant-based foods than to animal-based foods.
In the UK, 79.4% of plant-based meat products are classified as 'healthier' by the Nutritional Profiling Model, compared to 57% of reduced-fat meat products and 38.7% of standard meat products.
In the UK, plant-based meat products are labeled as ultra-processed by the NOVA system but contain better nutritional values than regular meat, showing that ultra-processing does not always mean worse nutrition.
Plant-based meat products in the UK have much higher dietary fiber content than regular and reduced-fat meat products, with some containing up to ten times more fiber.
Plant-based meat products in the UK contain less energy, total fat, and saturated fat than regular meat products, but they contain more sodium.
In the UK, plant-based meat products are more expensive than regular meat in four out of eight categories, with bacon and breaded chicken costing more than 50% extra, making them less accessible to people with lower incomes.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making health decisions.