Background: Several high-income countries have announced plans to reduce the animal-to-plant (A:P) protein ratios in their population diets. Their current A:P ratio is around 65:35, with two thirds of the protein coming from animal sources, meat, eggs, and dairy. Efforts to reduce the dietary A:P protein ratio to 50:50, 40:60, or below are sometimes referred to as a “healthy protein transition.” Methods: Analyses of Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and World Bank data were used to show that an opposing and far more important protein transition is taking place globally. Results: In most low- and middle-income countries (LMIC), the dietary A:P protein ratio was closely associated with, if not determined, by gross national incomes (GNI). As incomes rise, LMIC populations adopt more varied and more nutrient-rich diets with more animal proteins and especially meat. This protein transition, manifested by a strong observed relation between rising incomes and higher A:P protein ratios, follows a well-known principle of economics known as Bennett’s Law. Discussion: Consumer education and regulatory and policy measures aimed at reducing dietary A:P protein ratios worldwide may not uncouple the fundamental relation between powerful economic forces and global diet structures.
Adam Drewnowski is Professor of Epidemiology at the School of Public Health at the University of Washington and the Director of the UW Center for Public Health Nutrition. He obtained an MA degree in biochemistry from Balliol College, Oxford University in the UK and PhD degree in psychology from The Rockefeller University in New York. He has held faculty positions at The Rockefeller University and the University of Michigan and was visiting professor at the University of Paris. Dr. Drewnowski is the author of the Nutrient Rich Food Index, a well-known nutrient profiling model designed to assess the healthfulness of foods. He has published on food prices, diet costs, and affordable nutrient density in relation to social disparities. His Seattle Obesity Study (S.O.S.), merging health survey research with novel methods of spatial analysis, received long-term funding from the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Drewnowski has published more than 400 research articles, and advises foundations, governments, non-profits, and the private sector on nutrient profiling and obesity-related issues. He is a Fellow of the American Society for Nutrition and a member of the Académie d’Agriculture de France.