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?

To be sold in the United States, meat, poultry, and seafood products made from cultured cells must be labeled with a “common or usual name” to help consumers distinguish what they are purchasing. The terms “Cultured,” “Cultivated,” “Cell-Cultured,” “Cell-Cultivated,” “Cell-Based” and a control (without a common or usual name) were tested using an online experiment. Two regulatory criteria were assessed: that the term is seen as appropriate, does not disparage the novel or conventional products, nor elicit perceptions that the products are unsafe, unhealthy, or not nutritious. Each term was shown on packages of frozen Beef Fillets, Beef Burgers, Chicken Breasts, Chicken Burgers, Atlantic Salmon Fillets, and Salmon Burgers. A representative sample of 4385 Americans (18+) were randomly assigned to view a single product with a single term or the control. Consumers’ ability to distinguish tested terms from conventional products differed by product category. “Cultured” and “Cultivated” failed to adequately differentiate the novel products from “Wild-Caught and Farm-Raised” salmon products. “Cultivated” failed to differentiate the novel Beef Fillet product from “Grass-Fed” Beef Fillets. “Cell-Cultured,” “Cell-Cultivated,” and “Cell-Based” each signaled that the products were different from conventional products across the proteins, and signaled allergenicity, meeting the two key regulatory criteria. They were not significantly different on most consumer perception measures. However, “Cell-Cultured” may have slightly better consumer acceptance across the novel beef, chicken, and salmon products, recommending its universal adoption.

William K. Hallman, William K. Hallman II, Eileen E. Hallman