EATING GREEN… THE DIRTY TRUTH

Look at a packet of Quorn mince and you’ll discover that a 75g serving contains 10.9g of protein, 3.4g of carbohydrates and 0.4g of saturated fat. Later this year, a glance at the packet will tell you something else: that producing the 75g serving released the equivalent of 0.16kg of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

Since 2011, Quorn Foods has been working with researchers at Sheffield Hallam University and Innovate UK, a nondepartmental public body, to calculate the carbon footprint of its meatless products. Now it has had the information certified by the Carbon Trust, and plans to add it to product packets later this year. Doing so should, says Quorn Foods, “better [inform] people who want to understand the environmental impact of the foods they buy”. But will the move really help Britons understand and lower their dietary carbon footprint – and how close can we get to a zero-carbon diet?

Judging by the volume of media coverage on the subject, consumers are increasingly interested in cutting their carbon footprints. Focusing on food is a good place to start. According to a 2012 study, food-related processes release about one-fifth of the UK’s total annual greenhouse gas emissions, or 167 million tonnes of COe. (Greenhouse gas emissions are often measured in COe – carbon