Alternatives to Traditional Animal-Based Foods: Production, Characterization and Comprehensive Evaluation

Worldwide dietary changes are partly due to consumers questioning the traditional production and consumption of animal-based food for its impact on animal welfare, energy waste, loss of biodiversity, and last but not least being detrimental to human health. Therefore, alternatives to traditional animal-based foods are increasingly being developed, marketed and consumed.

The range of products covers plant-based meat and milk alternatives, along with products elaborated from cellular agriculture or tissues produced by protein-based additional manufacturing.

These alternatives reveal different properties, which confer advantages or disadvantages compared to each other and to their traditional counterparts. These aspects will be elaborated in the present Research Topic.

We welcome original Research, reviews, and perspective articles covering topics including but not limited to the following aspects regarding the alternatives:

- Novel types of alternatives to traditional animal-based foods and their processing;

- Technofunctional properties of ingredients impacting the generation of new products;

- Content of nutrients and micronutrients and perspectives to provide sufficient nutrient intake;

- Safety assessment with regard to residues and contaminants;

- Investigations relating to the sensory attributes of these products;

- Consumer acceptance;

- Life cycle assessment.

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Case Report
• Classification
• Clinical Trial
• Conceptual Analysis
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• FAIR² DATA Direct Submission
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Case Report
• Classification
• Clinical Trial
• Conceptual Analysis
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• FAIR² DATA Direct Submission
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Policy and Practice Reviews
• Review
• Systematic Review
• Technology and Code

Keywords: plant based, meat alternatives, dairy alternatives, cellular agriculture, cultured meat, nutrients, food safety

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.