Replacing dairy products with plant-based alternatives, such as oat and almond milks , could lead to people missing out on vitamins and minerals, a study suggests. Even a partial swap might lead to a deficiency in nutrients such as iodine , which is essential for thyroid function, research for the Lancet Planetary Health journal found. The study also found that children, teenagers and women appeared to be more affected by swaps to plant-based milks, yogurt and cheese.
Researchers looked at 146 plant-based milks, 76 yogurts and 67 cheese products to examine their effect on micronutrient intake for iodine, calcium and vitamins B2 and B12. Plant milks fortified with vitamins The researchers found that the extent to which plant-based foods were fortified with added vitamins varied. Some 12 per cent of plant-based items in the research contained added iodine, 61 per cent had added calcium, 46 per cent had added vitamin B12 and 19 per cent had added riboflavin, or vitamin B2.
The team, from the University of Surrey and Queen’s University Belfast, found that even modest replacements of dairy intake with plant-based dairy alternatives, including fortified ones, led to declines in all four micronutrients, but particularly iodine. For example, replacing 20-35 per cent of dairy products with plant-based ones increased the inadequate intake of iodine among girls aged 14-18 from 54 per cent to 65 per cent, and from 32 per cent to 42 per cent in women aged 19-49.
If all dairy were replaced, iodine inadequacy rose to 80 per cent in teenage girls and 72 per cent in boys of the same age.
The Telegraph's headline turns a hedged study finding into a flat health verdict on going vegan. The body says dairy swaps 'could' or 'might' cut intake of four micronutrients, and the study looked at replacing dairy products, not at vegan diets. The body itself reports the modelled figures fairly and with attribution.
NewsCord staff selected this article for review and pointed the model at passages to examine. Every finding quotes the article.
Headline goes beyond the article
Minor
“is bad for you”
Why this matters
The words 'is bad for you' state as a settled fact that dropping milk harms health.
The impression it gives
A reader believes the study found that giving up dairy milk damages people's health.
The context
The body hedges every finding. It says swapping 'could lead to people missing out on vitamins and minerals, a study suggests' and that a partial swap 'might lead to a deficiency'. The study modelled micronutrient intake from product contents. It did not measure harm to health.
How we know
Elsewhere in the article“could lead to people missing out on vitamins and minerals, a study suggests”
Elsewhere in the article“Even a partial swap might lead to a deficiency”
Elsewhere in the article“to examine their effect on micronutrient intake for iodine, calcium and vitamins B2 and B12”
The words 'to go vegan' make the study a verdict on adopting a vegan diet.
The impression it gives
A reader believes the research tested vegan diets and found them harmful.
The context
The body describes a study of replacing dairy products with plant-based alternatives, including partial swaps of 20 to 35 per cent. Nothing in the body says the study examined vegan diets as a whole.
How we know
Elsewhere in the article“Replacing dairy products with plant-based alternatives, such as oat and almond milks”
Elsewhere in the article“replacing 20-35 per cent of dairy products with plant-based ones”