Environmental performance of novel food products A case study about bacterial burgers

The PROTEBOOST project aims at producing alternative food products based on biomass from purple bacteria fed with agrifood industry co-products. Purple bacteria were chosen to ensure a coloration of the food product that would make it appealing for the consumer but also because these bacteria are known for producing a large amount of proteins with a high proportion of essential amino acids.We investigate here the example of biomass-based burger, showing that early development stages already enable to reach environmentally competitive products when compared to beef burgers, but that some process optimisation would be needed for achieving an environmental benefit when compared to vegetable-based burgers. The definition of the functional unit is discussed, with comparisons based on food mass but also on protein content.