Fried foods, refined cereals and saturated fats: many vegetarian or vegan dishes offered by restaurants are not as good for health as the “vegetable” label could suggest, according to a study.
- A new study reveals that many restaurants, including omnivores (OMNI), offer few healthy plant options, without saturated fats, fried food or refined cereals.
- Between 38 and 40 % of the dishes analyzed contain refined cereals. In addition, VEG restaurants more frequently incorporate fried food (28 %), while OMNI is betting rather on saturated fats (12 %).
- Faced with the risks of chronic diseases, researchers recommend more nutritional transparency and extended regulations to help consumers make informed choices.
“Veggie” is not always “qualified”. A team of researchers analyzed the menus of 561 restaurants across 37 countries-in particular the United States, Australia and European states-to assess the nutritional quality of their plant-based dishes. They found that many establishments, starting with those who offer an omnivorous offer, sorely lacking in healthy plant options, that is to say devoid of saturated fats, refined cereals and fried food.
Plant dishes not always synonymous with health
The study, published in the journal Nutrients and spotted by News Medicalthus reveals that 14 to 27 % of cable restaurants do not offer any healthy plant options. Moreover, only 10 % of omnivorous establishments (OMNI) and not more than 2 % of vegetarian or vegan places (VEG) provide complete nutritional information on their meals. In terms of nutritional quality, Veg restaurants obtain an average score of 4/10, against 2.4/10 for OMNI.
By unhealthy “veggie” dish, the study hears fried ingredients (such as breaded food, likely to be carcinogenic), saturated fats (such as coconut milk, coconut oil, palm oil and cocoa butter) or refined cereals (such as white rice, white flour and non -complete pasta high but few fiber).
If the plant options seem a priori healthier, the study then reveals that between 38 and 40 % of the dishes analyzed contain refined cereals. Similarly, VEG restaurants more frequently incorporate fried food (28 %), while OMNI is betting rather on saturated fats (12 %). Only 2 % of the establishments evaluated obtained a perfect score, indicating a total absence of fried ingredients, saturated fats and refined cereals.
An urgent need for regulation
While associations between unhealthy food, chronic diseases and mortality are regularly pointed out by science, researchers recommend better nutritional transparency. Currently, only American restaurants with more than 20 franchises are required to declare this information, which is why the OMNI across the Atlantic offer more nutritional details.
Restaurants, although businesses, can play a crucial role in the prevention of diseases by limiting refined cereals, excessive sodium and fried food, say the researchers. They also suggest that regulatory organizations, such as the Food and Drug Administration, the American Health Gendarme, extend nutritional transparency requirements to a greater variety of establishments to help consumers make more enlightened choices.
