PhD defence: SHEAF: Sustainability, health and acceptability of plant-based foods

Dairy as a case study

Beatriz Philippi Rosane

PhD thesis

Plant-based alternatives to animal foods (PBAFs) have emerged as potential tools to facilitate the transition towards plant-rich dietary patterns by mimicking the sensory and functional properties of animal products.

This PhD thesis investigates plant-based alternatives to dairy (PBADs) in Brazil, China, and Denmark – countries with distinct dairy and PBAD traditions and consumption patterns.

Taken together, the studies found that PBADs can support sustainable diets in high-income countries when fortified and consumed regularly, but they are not nutritionally equivalent to dairy. One-to-one substitution of dairy with PBADs seems unlikely given barriers to PBAD consumption, and dairy attachment poses a complex challenge to reducing dairy intake.

Policy efforts should address fortification standards, affordability, and consumer education, while industry innovations must improve sensory quality and explore culturally adapted flavours.

2026, 117 pages.

Assessment Committee

Professor Lilia Ahrné (Chair), Department of Food Science, University of Copenhagen, Frederiksberg, Denmark.

Professor Emeritus Kees de Graaf, Department of Agrotechnology and Food Sciences, Wageningen University, Wageningen, Netherlands.

Senior Researcher Ellen Trolle, National Food Institute, Technical University of Denmark, Lyngby, Denmark.

Main Supervisor

Professor Susanne Gjedsted Bügel, Head of Section, Department of Nutrition, Exercise and Sports, University of Copenhagen, Denmark.

Co Supervisor

Professor Derek V. Byrne, Food Quality Perception and Society Team, iSense Lab, Department of Food Science, Faculty of Technical Sciences, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark.

Tenure Track Assistant Professor Barbara Vad Andersen, Food Quality Perception and Society Team, iSense Lab, Department of Food Science, Faculty of Technical Sciences, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark.

Professor Hong Zhao, School of Economics and Management and Sino-Danish College, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, China.

Place

Building 'Marmorhallen', Auditorium A2-70.04, Thorvaldsensvej 40, 1871 Frederiksberg C.

Copy of thesis

Ask for a copy of the thesis here: bpr@nexs.ku.dk