1National Market Supervision Administration Innovation Center (Animal Substituted Protein), Beijing Technology and Business University, Beijing, 100048, PR China
2Beijing Technology and Business University, Key Laboratory of Geriatric Nutrition and Health, Ministry of Education, Beijing, 100048, PR China
3Key Laboratory of Green and Low-carbon Processing Technology for Plant-based Food of China National Light Industry Council, School of Food and Health, Beijing Technology and Business University, Beijing, 100048, PR China
This study employs a multi-regional life cycle assessment (LCA) across 12 countries to quantify and compare environmental impacts of plant-based beef analogue (PBBA) versus conventional beef production. Key drivers of ecological footprints were identified: PBBA reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 80–90% but exhibited critical regional bottlenecks—soybean-driven deforestation in Argentina (contributing >70% to global warming impacts) and coal-dependent processing in China (amplifying fine particulate matter formation by 69%). Significant spatial disparities emerged in resource efficiency: beef production demanded 7.8× more water and 22.9× greater land use than PBBA, with nitrogen/phosphorus runoff from feed cultivation causing freshwater eutrophication (18.8× higher in beef systems). Substitution modelling revealed that replacing 1% of China’s beef consumption annually with PBBA could reduce agricultural emissions by 0.4–0.7%, cumulatively mitigating 12.8 million tons of CO₂ by 2030. However, consumer surveys across 18 Chinese cities identified taste authenticity as the primary adoption barrier (41.5% rejection in culinary hubs; β = −0.53, *p*<0.001), mediated by cultural identity (62%), while economic vulnerability tripled price sensitivity among low-income youth versus older cohorts. The findings underscore that scaling PBBA requires region-specific interventions—addressing supply-chain bottlenecks (e.g., deforestation-free soy sourcing, renewable energy integration) and demand-side cultural adaptation (e.g., recipe reformulation with chefs)—to align planetary health goals with dietary transitions.
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