Around the Internet, you may have seen a lot of lists saying  here are the "Top Vegetarian Foods Highest in Protein".  At Menutail, we have decided to put the accuracy of all of these lists to the test by generating our own list, except backed by real data. 

At the end of the post is a table of the top 96 vegetarian foods highest in protein, and below is a summary of the 10 top sources of protein for vegetarian foods.  If you have any other data requests for lists like this, feel free to e-mail us at contact@menutail.com

1) Tempeh and Soybeans 

Tempeh (which is made out of fermented soybeans) and soybeans by far have the highest protein content of any vegetarian foods.  A package of tempeh has about 33 grams of protein followed by 3/4 cup of cooked soybeans whch has 20 grams of protein.

image via Wikipedia

2) Lentils

Lentils are delicious and super quick to cook.  1/2 cup cooked of cooked lentils gives you about 17 grams of protein.

image via Wikipedia

3) Beans

If you take a look down the list you will see a large set of different beans constituting the top protein sources.  3/4 cup of beans yielsd abot 8-12 grams of protein depending on the varietal.

image via wikipedia

4) Quinoa

Quinoa has been touted as a super food and we can see why..  1 cup of quinoa gives you 8 grams of protein.

image via wikipedia

6) Peas

Peas are a surprising find on the list.  One cup gives you a plentiful serving of about 7 grams of protein.

image via wikipedia

5) Nuts

Whatever nuts you like will also be a good source of protein.  Peanuts, cashews, pistachios, walnuts, and almonds all range from 5-6 grams of protein.

image via wikipedia

6) Oyster Mushrooms

Oyster mushrooms are these really interesting mushrooms where you can shred it and put it in a stir fry or soup.  1 large mushroom yields about 5 grams of protein.

image via wikipedia

7) Chia Seeds

Another popular super food are chia seeds.  One ounce gives you 4.7 grams of protein.

image via wikipedia

8) Broccoli

Broccoli is a vegetable you can find anywhere.  One stalk gives you about 5 grams of protein.

image via wikipedia
To learn more about the health benefits of broccoli check out JenReview's Broccoli Page

9) Tofu

I thought tofu would rank higher, but it still is a good source of protein.  A 1/4 block gives you 4 grams of protein.

image via wikipedia

10) Potatoes

A crowd favorite, potatoes yield about 3 grams of protein.

Data:

• Data is based of USDA SR 28
• The data has been normalized to be based off one human serving size
• Daily value is based off 50 grams

The FDA just released a document in the federal register

https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2016/12/30/2016-31597/food-labeling-nutrition-labeling-of-standard-menu-items-in-restaurants-and-similar-retail-food

That the compliance date of the final rule of nutrition information for menus in restaurants is now May 5, 2018.

As a reminder, this affects you if you are a restaurant chain with 20 or more locations doing business under the same name.  You can read the regulations here:

The FDA has sent out the following e-mail this morning.  Note that these are nonbinding regulations.

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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today issued two draft guidance documents related to the final rules on Nutrition Facts labeling and Serving Sizes to help industry comply with those rules.

The first draft guidance answers questions related to compliance, labeling of added sugars, rounding as it relates to the declaration of quantitative amounts of vitamins and minerals, and label format (thickness of lines and space between lines).

The second draft guidance provides examples of food products that belong to product categories included in the tables of Reference Amounts Customarily Consumed (RACCs) per Eating Occasion that are established in FDA’s serving size regulations. These examples will help industry identify the appropriate food categories for their products and, in turn, determine the serving size on a product’s Nutrition Facts label.

The final rules on the Nutrition Facts label and serving sizes published May 27, 2016. The compliance date is July 26, 2018, but smaller businesses with annual food sales that are less than $10 million have until July 26, 2019 to comply.

The FDA is accepting comments on the draft guidance documents and is requesting them within 60 days of publication in the Federal Register to have them before it begins work on the final documents. Instructions for submitting comments can be found in the notices of availability at the links below:

Nutrition Labels - Draft 1

• Draft Guidance for Industry: Questions and Answers on the Nutrition and Supplement Facts Labels Related to the Compliance Date, Added Sugars, and Declaration of Quantitative Amounts of Vitamins and Minerals
• Federal Register Notice for the Draft Guidance on Questions and Answers

Racc - Draft 2

• Draft Guidance for Industry: Reference Amounts Customarily Consumed: List of Products for Each Product Category
• Federal Register Notice for the Draft Guidance on Reference Amounts

Changes to the Nutrition Facts Label

When Menutail was implementing the design for the new nutrition facts labels, we saw rules about fonts and hairlines, but like the original label, the FDA did not specify an explicit rule on the actual font you have to use.

Instead, what the FDA released guidance mock-ups for the industry to follow.  A breakdown of their mock-up shows that Helvetica Black and Helvetica are used as primary fonts.

At Menutail, we have made the explicit decision to follow the FDAs recommendations on the font and styling.  As you can see, Menutail's label looks very similar to the FDA mock-up.

However, we had this question:

What would consumers think about a nutrition facts label not in Helvetica?

To investigate this, we created two similar nutrition facts labels.  On the left is the one in Helvetica, the FDA preferred font, and on the right is Arial, the font used in Genesis ESHA.

Helvetica		Arial

Survey 1: Google Survey - 768 recipients

The first survey we created was a Google Survey.  The platform takes care of the complex work of reaching out to consumers and getting their feedback.

We would ask a simple question:

It would be a one question survey where all the consumer had to do is click an image. Google also randomizes which image is shown first to ensure the survey results are accurate.  Here is an example of what the survey would look like for the consumer

Explore Survey Results 

The conclusion reached was:

Out of 768 respondents, 70% preferred the Helvetica label and 30% preferred the Arial label!

However, one of the concerns we had is in the survey, the image was a little small, so we decided to run one more smaller survey to validate the results.

Survey 2: Instant.ly - 34 participants

To address the concerns of seeing the label in isolation, and it being slightly lower quality, we decided to create a mock-up of the side of a cereal label (inspired by Kashi) of one in Helvetica, and on in Arial.  This time we created the survey on the instant.ly platform. 

What nutrition facts label format do you like better?

To get some random data, a post was made on the r/SampleSize subreddit page.

And interestingly enough despite the smaller sample size, the ratio of people liking Helvetica compared to Arial was still 70% to 30%!

Conclusion: Use Helvetica!

If you are creating your own nutrition facts label, we recommend you to use Helvetica, and keep the layout as close as possible to the FDA mock-ups.  However if you don’t want to go through the hassle of creating one on your own, please consider Menutail.com to help with your label generation needs.

Learn More About Menutail