Dr McAuliffe, who models the environmental impact of foods, said that current accepted research which claims that eating meat is worse for the environment fails to take into account that the human body does not absorb as much protein from plants as it does from meat, meaning that on a vegan diet, a person would have to eat more in order to obtain a healthy amount of protein, according to a report in The Times.

Speaking at the conference in London, the scientist said: “Without a doubt peas and ground nuts always have a lower environmental impact than any livestock products. But if you look at tofu, which is processed so there is more energy going into its production, when you correct for the fact that the protein in it is not as digestible compared to the meat-based products, you can see that it could actually have a higher global warming potential than any of the monogastric animals. To get the same amount of protein, tofu is worse.”