Nutritional Quality of Plant-Based Cheese Available in Spanish Supermarkets: How Do They Compare to Dairy Cheese?

Plant-based cheese is one of the most increasingly consumed dairy alternatives. Evidence is lacking on their nutritional quality. We aimed to evaluate the nutritional composition of the plant-based cheese options available in Spanish supermarkets, and how they compare with dairy cheese. An audit of plant-based cheese alternatives has been conducted in seven of the most common supermarkets. For each product, the nutritional content per 100 g and ingredients were collected. Data on generic dairy cheese were retrieved from the BEDCA website. Descriptive statistics (median, minimum and maximum) were used to characterize the plant-based cheese products, for both all the products and grouped by main ingredients (i.e., coconut oil, cashew nuts and tofu). Mann-Whitney U tests were used for comparisons between dairy and different types of plant-based cheese. The coconut oil-based products (the large majority of plant-based cheese products, n = 34) could not be considered as healthy foods. Their major ingredients were refined coconut oil and starches and were high in saturated fats and salt. The other smaller groups, cashew nut- (n = 4) and tofu-based (n = 2), showed a healthier nutritional profile. Replacing dairy cheese with these groups could be nutritionally beneficial. Future investigations should address the health effects of substituting dairy cheese with these products.

Automated summary

This study evaluated the nutritional composition of plant-based cheese options available in Spanish supermarkets and found that coconut oil-based products are not considered healthy due to high saturated fats and salt content, while cashew nut and tofu-based products had a healthier profile. Replacing dairy cheese with the latter could be nutritionally beneficial. Future research should investigate the health effects of substituting dairy cheese with these plant-based alternatives.