Cell-Based, Cell-Cultured, Cell-Cultivated, Cultured, or Cultivated. What is the best name for meat, poultry, and seafood made directly from the cells of animals?

Abstract

Abstract The terms “Cultured,” “Cultivated,” “Cell-Cultured,” “Cell-Cultivated,” “Cell-Based” and a control were tested using five criteria to determine the best common or usual name for meat, poultry, and seafood products made directly from the cells of animals. A nationally representative sample of 4385 American consumers (18+) participated in an online experiment. The names were shown on labels of packages of frozen Beef Filets, Beef Burgers, Chicken Breasts, Chicken Burgers, Atlantic Salmon Fillets, and Salmon Burgers. The terms were assessed on two key regulatory and three consumer acceptance criteria. “Cultured” and “Cultivated” failed to adequately differentiate the novel products from conventional “Wild-Caught and Farm-Raised” salmon products. “Cultivated” also failed to differentiate the novel Beef Filet product from “Grass-Fed” Beef Filets. “Cultured” and “Cultivated” also performed more poorly than the control (with no common or usual name tested) in signaling that the Chicken Burgers were “Neither Free-Range nor Raised Indoors.” “Cell-Cultured,” “Cell-Cultivated,” and “Cell-Based” each signaled to consumers that the products were different from their conventional counterparts, and signaled allergenicity, meeting the two key regulatory criteria. These three names were not significantly different on most of the measures of consumer perceptions. However, the overall pattern of results suggests that the term “Cell-Cultured” may have slightly better consumer acceptance across the novel beef, chicken, and salmon products. Overall, the participants were as interested in tasting and purchasing “Cell-Cultured” products, ordering them in a restaurant, and as likely to serve them to guests as they were the conventional products used as controls.