Environmental, Nutritional, and Cultural Sustainability of Novel Food Protein Sources

Sustainable sources of dietary proteins are making their way into the market to reduce the impact of food production on the environment. Considerations from several standpoints are to be made when supporting the dietary shift toward these alternative sources, particularly regarding their nutritional and safety quality. Research is making enormous steps forwards by producing highly valuable proteins with little environmental impact or by turning by-products and wastes into sources of valuable proteins. The chapter will summarize the environmental, nutritional, and safety aspects related to novel foods, including microalgae, plants, insects, microbial, and synthetic-based ingredients. Consumer acceptability is taken into central consideration throughout the chapter being the final user of the novel food ingredients.