Overview
This Swiss study from Agroscope and the Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office compared the nutritional composition of 27 commercial plant-based drinks (representing 8 plant species) against cow’s milk, including analysis of arsenic as part of a residue panel (alongside glyphosate and AMPA). The arsenic data for plant-based drinks, particularly rice-based drinks, is the primary wiki-relevant finding. The study provides a comprehensive nutritional comparison across diverse plant-based milk alternatives purchased from Swiss retail, offering a European market snapshot of arsenic levels in this growing product category.
Key numbers
n=29 products total (27 plant-based drinks of 8 species + 2 cow’s milk reference samples). Switzerland retail market, 2022. Arsenic measured as total arsenic (tAs) as part of a residue screen. Specific concentration values by drink type are in the full data tables and flagged for extraction during synthesis. Eight plant species represented: oat, soy, almond, rice, coconut, hemp, spelt, cashew.
Methods (brief)
Comprehensive nutritional analysis battery including macronutrients, vitamins, minerals, and residues (arsenic, glyphosate, AMPA). Analytical methods for arsenic: ICP-MS (Agroscope/FSVO laboratory). Swiss retail market sample collection. n=29.
Implications
Certification: Plant-based beverages, especially rice-based drinks, are an emerging category for HMT&C certification; this study provides European market baseline data for tAs in this category. Courses: Illustrates the nutritional trade-offs and contaminant differences between cow’s milk and plant-based alternatives; useful for brand QA and consumer education on rice drink arsenic exposure. App: Supports contamination_profile entries for plant-based milk/rice milk ingredients; Swiss retail data provides a European reference point.
Wiki pages updated on ingest
Update history
The five most recent substantive edits to this page, classified major (evidence or structure moved), correction (a published value or statement was wrong and has been fixed), or minor (narrative rewritten without changing the underlying evidence). Each description is derived from what the edit did to this page; the linked commit is the authoritative record, routine regeneration passes are excluded, and the full version history lives in git. When DOI minting comes online (see schema docs), each entry below will also link to a version-pinned DataCite DOI.
| Commit | Date | Change | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| e317189 | 2026-08-11 | correction | 6 sections added; narrative text revised |