New EU project explores novel foods and protein diversification

A €4.5 million (US$5.1 million) project has been launched that targets the EU Protein Strategy and accelerates the transition to a more sustainable and fair food system through novel protein sources.

The project brings together 20 partners from 14 countries — including key players like EIT Food, Danone, Puratos, and Oxford University. They will explore novel foods’ environmental, social, and economic potential based on alternative protein sources. 

These include proteins derived from alternative sources such as fungi, bacteria, micro- and macroalgae, insects, and aquacultural by-products.

The new research initiative, supported by Horizon Europe: EPIC-SHIFT, comes at a time of increased demand for protein from alternative sources and a move away from industrial animal farming. 

Alternative proteins present a significant opportunity

The project will develop a holistic evidence base that will inform European policy and investment. It will assess topics such as consumer acceptance of alternative proteins and their health and nutritional benefits to the regulatory landscape surrounding them, market dynamics, and investment incentives and barriers.

The EPIC-SHIFT project consortium recently gathered at Lund University in Sweden for the official project launch. 

EIT Food is one of the organizations in the project consortium, and it is supported by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), an EU body.

 The project aims to support the EU Protein Strategy by providing an unprecedented and independent knowledge base on the environmental, economic, and social sustainability of novel foods derived from alternative protein sources as options for protein diversification in human diets. 

The project will foster collaboration and co-creation among researchers, industry representatives, public authorities, policymakers, and civil society actors. All project findings will provide recommendations on potential pathways for more sustainable, healthy, resilient, and fair protein diversification in the EU.

Strengthening the EU’s Protein Strategy 

Marja-Liisa Meurice, director of EIT Food North and East region, one of the consortium partners, says, “The growing demand for protein, combined with the significant environmental footprint of industrial animal farming, means we must explore how to diversify the protein sources in our European diets.”

“Within the broader context of the food system, it is crucial to analyze which pathways will support the resilience of the entire EU food system and are economically viable at the same time. Achieving this requires the involvement of a wide range of actors across the food system — precisely what EPIC-SHIFT is facilitating.” 

According to EIT Food, encouraging dietary shifts that incorporate these sources alongside existing proteins could help the EU reduce its reliance on animal-based proteins. This would also help mitigate the environmental footprint associated with animal-based proteins and the livestock industry while encouraging novel foods based on alternative non-animal sources. 

Analyzing alternative protein consumption

Knowledge gaps also need to be filled. For instance, information about the environmental, economic, and social impacts of the widespread production and consumption of Novel and/or Future Alternative Proteins (NFAP) remains limited. 

The project will conduct in-depth systems analysis through a unique partnership of leading universities, research institutes, start-ups, food businesses, accelerators, independent consultants, international innovation initiatives, farmers, and consumer associations.

“Food systems are incredibly complex and dynamic. Addressing the challenges in food systems transformation requires more than isolated efforts,” says Deniz Koca, EPIC-SHIFT project coordinator and assistant professor at Lund University’s Centre for Environmental and Climate Science. 

 “We need interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research and education, collaboration across all sectors of the food value chains, and most importantly, the applied systems science with its tools, methods, and approaches to understand complex interactions. Only with a truly holistic understanding can we identify the most effective leverage points for sustainable solutions within our inherently complex and rapidly changing food systems.”