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Sustainability of Soy Protein from Life Cycle Assessment
Author(s) -
Braun Michelle,
Muñoz Ivan,
Schmidt Jannick H,
Thrane Mikkel
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.30.1_supplement.894.5
Subject(s) - carbon footprint , life cycle assessment , sustainability , footprint , water use , environmental science , soy protein , food science , agricultural science , business , pulp and paper industry , microbiology and biotechnology , production (economics) , greenhouse gas , chemistry , biology , engineering , agronomy , economics , ecology , macroeconomics , paleontology
A Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is an approved and validated method to quantify the environmental impacts of producing a given product. An LCA was recently completed on isolated soy protein (ISP) produced by DuPont Nutrition & Health that was ISO 14044 compliant and reviewed by a third‐party. The LCA study included soy cultivation, bean crushing, ISP production and transportation. The ISP study focuses on findings related to carbon footprint, water and land use footprints. Comparisons are made to meta‐analysis results for common sources of animal‐source proteins. The results demonstrate ISP has a very low carbon footprint compared to animal based alternatives, expressed as kg CO 2 equivalents per kg protein (kg CO 2 e/kg pro). ISP was found to have a carbon footprint of 2.4 kg CO 2 e/kg protein. This can be compared to other sources of protein, such as whey protein concentrate (WPC), with 16 CO 2 e/kg pro, 17 CO 2 e/kg pro for chicken, 23 CO 2 e/kg pro for skimmed milk powder, and 24 CO 2 e/kg pro for pork. Findings also indicate that ISP has a low land use footprint compared to animal sourced proteins. ISP has the smallest land use footprint while the land required to produce a kg of WPC is over two‐fold larger. Water use footprint for both ISP and WPC is comparable but markedly less than other sources such as pork and beef. This data can be used to quantify the ingredients impact on sustainability of foods available to consumers. An example provided is the use of vegetable protein, instead of animal derived protein sources, in sports nutrition beverages. Approximately 14 kg CO 2 e and 24 kg CO 2 e can be avoided by replacing 1 kg whey and casein protein with 1 kg soy protein. Replacing half of the WPC with ISP in sports nutrition beverages (dry blend beverages) globally – a reduction of 424,000 tons CO 2 e can be obtained, annually. This is equivalent to removing roughly 90,000 US cars from the roads, a significant contributor of CO 2 e, annually. The findings of this study demonstrate plant‐based proteins such as ISP have a favorable environmental profile with a carbon footprint that is 8 to 80 times lower than the analyzed animal‐based proteins. Support or Funding Information The study of ISP is made in accordance with the ISO 14044 standard and funded by DuPont Nutrition & Health.