Researchers looked at the emissions for more than 25,000 everyday grocery items across Australian supermarkets like Aldi, Coles and Woolies.
Food contributes to about 30 per cent of global emissions, according to a new Australian study.
Swapping red meat for chicken or plant-based alternatives, choosing fruit toast instead of muffins and opting for dairy-free items could substantially cut household greenhouse gas emissions.
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A household’s climate pollution could be reduced by six tonnes a year, just by switching out a few of these items.
Six tonnes is roughly the equivalent of the emissions from an average household’s grid-based electricity use.
For example, you could swap one kilogram of beef mince with chicken each week to cut more than two tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions annually, while switching to a meat alternative would save two and a half tonnes.
Currently, there’s no requirement for companies in Australia to include greenhouse gas emissions information on food labelling.
Researchers are pushing for label information after the Consumer Policy Research Centre previously found nearly half of Australians considered sustainability when deciding what to buy.
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