Veggie food sector must focus more on healthy products
Source: Althealth News
A leading nutritionist last month told a gathering of the UKs top meat-free and vegetarian manufacturers in London that the vegetarian food industry should focus on making their products healthier.
Yvonne Bishop-Weston, who has previously worked for Cranks, Holland & Barrett and The Food Doctor, told delegates at a Food and Drink Federation, Vegetarian and Meat-Free Group seminar that some manufactured vegetarian food is no healthier than food with meat.
Bishop-Weston pointed out that most vegetarian food is bought by non-vegetarians and meat reducers who think they are buying a healthier option. But with some meat substitute products still made with hydrogenated fat, and many dishes reliant on cheese for protein, this often isnt the case.
She added that if the industry didnt respond it could find itself out of work: Whilst vegetarians and vegans often eliminate meat for ethical reasons, for non-vegetarians ethics arent so high up on their shopping list. Unless manufacturers, caterers, retailers, vegetarian organisations and the vegetarians themselves do something to prove a plant based diets optimum healthy potential I think we are in for a big shock over the next ten years.
