Why do people in Paris like seaweed and tofu salad? Will Italians be tempted to try a beetle skewer? How many young Polish consumers are "food innovators", eager to eat chickpea pâté? In an international project, researchers from SWPS University analyzed European consumers' attitudes towards alternative protein food products. In the face of the fight against climate change, more and more people are modifying their diets, giving up or limiting conventional sources of protein (e.g.
, beef, pork, poultry, and animal dairy) in favour of those with a lower environmental impact. These are the so-called alternative protein food (APF) products, which may be based on legumes, algae, mushrooms, crustaceans and insects. Although Europe is the leading market in production and sales of APF and original research on this topic is growing, there has been no synthesis of between-country differences in APF choices across Europe , says Hanna Zaleśkiewicz from the CARE-BEH Center for Applied Research on Health Behavior and Health, SWPS University.
Researchers from SWPS University together with experts from Germany, Denmark, Greece, Norway and Italy analysed research from 11 databases of peer-reviewed journals. In total, their analysis included 25 studies conducted in 18 European countries. The results were published in Food Quality and Preference .
The researchers focused particularly on data from Denmark, Finland, Poland, the Czech Republic, Italy, Spain, the UK and Germany. Research shows.
