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Item An audit of ultra-processed vegan food in the major supermarkets of New Zealand : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Nutrition and Dietetics at Massey University, Albany, New Zealand(Massey University, 2023) Czifra, AimeeBackground: The rising rates of veganism have led to an increased demand for plant-based meat and dairy analogues (PBMAs and PBDAs). These analogues fall into the category of ultra-processed foods (UPFs). There is an urgent need to obtain an understanding of vegan UPFs available to New Zealand consumers. Aim: To audit ultra-processed vegan-labelled, PBMAs and PBDAs available in New Zealand supermarkets, including comparing their nutrient composition (energy, protein, saturated fat, carbohydrate, fibre, sodium, calcium, iron, zinc and B12) against the products of animal origin that these foods emulate. Methods: The audit was completed during March – June 2022 using a combination of data collected online and directly from supermarkets. Products were chosen that directly emulated foods of animal origin, naturally vegan foods such as Tofu and legumes were excluded. Data were collected from New Zealand’s five major supermarkets, Countdown, Fresh Choice, New World, Pak ‘n Save and Four Square. The data collected included the nutrient information listed on product labels, this information was available on some online shopping sites or taken directly from product labels by visiting the various supermarket stores. The nutrient information of the meat sources was taken from an average derived from no less than eight samples, calculated by the Food Standards Australia and New Zealand (FSANZ) and FoodWorks. The nutrient information for meat burgers was collected from product labels available online or instore. Results: The PBMAs generally had higher energy and lower protein than their meat counterparts., for the vegan burger had a mean of 15.2mg/100g compared to the meat burgers at 18.5mg/100g, the mince showed similar comparisons. The veggie burger had considerably lower protein with a mean of 6.6mg/100g. The vegan chicken breast had higher mean protein (27mg/100g) compared to the meat chicken breast (21.35mg/100g). The PBDA was generally lower in protein. Soy milk was the only plant milk with a similar protein to cow’s milk, plant yoghurt had a range of 1.4 – 2mg/100g compared to dairy yoghurt (5.0-7.92mg/100g). Only one of the plant cheeses had a protein content above 1mg/100g (Vegan Parmesan 17.7mg/100g) when compared to dairy cheese (8.5-35.1 mg/100g). The PBMAs were high in sodium, with a mean across the various products of 351mg/100g to 693 mg/100g, compared to meat which had a mean of 47mg/100g to 796.7mg/100g (excluding bacon). The PBDAs showed a similar trend with sodium across the various analogues with a mean of 22.75mg/100mL to 68mg/100mL. The sodium across the various plant-based cheese analogues (PBCAs) had a mean of 603mg/100g to 4970mg/100g. The calcium of PBDA milk was separated into fortified and unfortified. Fortified PBDAs had a mean of 100.5mg/100mL to 147mL/100mL, 29.4% had no calcium fortification. Of the PBDAs soy milk had the closest protein quality to dairy milk, though the levels of protein were varied. Fortification of calcium was mostly absent from both plant-based cheese and yoghurt analogues (PBYAs). Vitamin B12 had a mean of 0mcg/100g to 0.6mcg/100g across all the PBMAs. Conclusion: The plant-based analogues offered a range of ultra-processed foods, very few of which could be considered in a healthy range of nutrients. The levels of sodium were high across the range of PBMA and PBDAs. The levels of fortification would need to be standardised to offer a product of similar nutritional value to animal-based foods.