The Study
Characterizing Meat- and Milk/Dairy-like Vegetarian Foods and Their Counterparts Based on Nutrient Profiling and Food Labels
This study looked at what’s inside plant-based and animal-based foods like veggie burgers and oat milk, and found they have different amounts of sugar, protein, and fat. But it didn’t follow people to see if eating one kind makes them healthier or sicker—it just compared the labels. So we can say they’re different, but not that one causes better health.
Analysis score
Maximum 44 for a cross-sectional study.
Where the score came from
This study looked at plant-based versions of milk, meat, and cheese sold in Spain to see how they stack up against regular animal-based ones.
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 these foods are labeled as healthy, many are highly processed and lack key nutrients like protein and vitamins unless fortified—which they rarely are.
- 2Plant-based milk has more sugar (5.5g per 100mL) and carbs (8g) than cow milk (4.7g).
- 3Plant-based meat has the same protein as real meat (14g) but more carbs.
- 4Plant-based cheese has as much saturated fat as real cheese but way less protein.
Score breakdown, methodology, conflicts of interest, evidence analysis & raw study data
Publication
Journal
Foods
Year
2023
Authors
N. M. Rodríguez-Martín, Patricia Córdoba, B. Sarriá, V. Verardo, J. Pedroche, Á. Alcalá-Santiago, B. García-Villanova, E. Molina-Montes
Related Content
Claims (6)
Nutrient scoring systems assign higher health scores to plant-based foods than to animal-based foods.
Plant-based meat alternatives sold in Spain have about 14 grams of protein, 9 grams of carbohydrates, and dietary fiber per 100 grams, while containing less saturated fat than animal-based meats, which have no fiber and only 2 grams of carbohydrates per 100 grams.
In Spain, plant-based milk alternatives contain more carbohydrates and sugars than cow milk, and less protein, except for soy milk, which has the same amount of protein as cow milk.
Plant-based cheese alternatives sold in Spain have as much saturated fat as regular cheese and much less protein.
In Spain, most plant-based foods are labeled as nutritionally healthy based on their nutrient content, but more than half are classified as ultra-processed, showing that nutrient scores do not reflect how processed the food is.
In Spain, most plant-based dairy alternatives contain added calcium and vitamins B12, D, A, and E, but only 15% of these products list this fortification on their packaging.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making health decisions.