A Review of Cultured Meat and its Current Public Perception

Abstract

Abstract: Culturing meat in-vitro cell, also known as cellular agriculture, is an alternative to livestock meat production. By culturing meat instead of relying on conventional meat, the deleterious effects on the environment can be avoided. Moreover, depending on cultured meat resources will help improve animal welfare and aid in tackling the current sustainability challenges associated with animal rearing to produce meat. Multiple tissue culture methods and bioengineering techniques are currently being studied to design various cell types to develop muscle and fat cells for culturing meat. To succeed in the cellular agricultural industry, the public impression of cultured meat must also be considered. To better study and understand cultured meat perception among the public, we extensively studied papers on ‘cultured meat’ and ‘public perception’ from the past decade. Most recent research studies have discussed the public perception of a particular group toward cultured meat. However, to the best of our knowledge, no existing article provides a detailed study on recent advances in cultured meat and the views of public consumers from different backgrounds. Thus, this paper focuses on several religious and regional groups and their perceptions of cultured meat consumption. The consumers’ appeal and acceptability of cultured meat are crucial to manufacturing cultured meat. However, many existing studies on public perception of cultured meat have raised concerns despite their willingness to consume it. Therefore, organisations must carefully navigate for such an industry to reach its full potential. For instance, labels like ‘lab-grown meat’, ‘cultured meat’, or ‘artificial meat’ may elicit negative customer responses. On the contrary, tags like ‘clean meat’ or ‘healthy meat’ may promote better acceptance among consumers. Further research and development, especially on the alternative of serum-free culture media, cultured meat, and cellular agriculture, can transform the meat industry soon.