Quantifying the environmental human health burden of food demand in Spain: A life cycle assessment study

Abstract

The negative impacts of current dietary patterns in Spain on both human health and the environment are well documented. While the strong connection between environmental degradation and human health is widely recognized, no studies have evaluated how environmental disruption generated specifically by Spain's food systems translates into health outcomes. To address this gap, this study quantifies the human health burden linked to the environmental impacts of Spain's food demand, assessing the potential benefits of changing consumer behavior. A life cycle assessment study of the environmental human health impacts of food consumption and waste in Spain during 2022 was performed, applying the IMPACT World + v2.1 Life Cycle Impact Assessment method, and ReCiPe 2016 v1.1 as sensitivity analysis. Scenarios involving the partial or full replacement of red and processed meat with white meat, meat and dairy with plant-based options, and the mitigation of consumers' food waste were analyzed in terms of environmental human health and nutritional outcomes. The findings showed that meat and fish were the food groups with higher environmental human health impact, both on a weight and protein content basis. Meat, fish, and dairy contributed 55 % of dietary environmental human health damage, with total food demand resulting in 447,152 disability-adjusted life years. Replacing meat and dairy with plant-based options could reduce this burden by up to 30 % in a scenario of full substitution. Eliminating consumers' food waste could further lower it by an additional 5 %. Nutritional analyses showed that these dietary changes would result in diets more closely aligned with World Health Organization nutritional guidelines. Transitioning towards more plant-based diets and reducing food waste can significantly decrease environmental human health damage while fostering healthier, more nutritious, and more sustainable dietary practices in Spain. Policymakers should consider these strategies in public health initiatives to mitigate planet and human health crises.