EU consumers distinguishing cultivated meat from traditional products despite label concerns – Good Food Institute

EUROPE – The use of conventional meat terms such as ‘beef’ and ‘salmon’ on the packaging of cultivated meat appears to assist rather than mislead European consumers, particularly regarding potential allergy concerns.

A recent study involving 2,000 participants across the UK, France, Germany, Spain, and Switzerland found that four out of five individuals can tell the difference between cultivated and traditional meat when front-of-pack labels include familiar meat terms.

The research, conducted by Opinium and the Good Food Institute (GFI) Europe, highlights how the terminology used to describe cultivated meat affects both consumer clarity and food safety.

This is especially significant in the context of ongoing EU policy discussions, where some lawmakers have argued that cultivated meat labels may mislead the public or blur distinctions with conventional or plant-based products.

However, the new data contradicts these claims, showing that labels using widely recognised meat terms actually enhance understanding when accompanied by clear disclaimers that the products are not derived from farmed animals.

In previous surveys conducted by GFI Europe, a large majority of consumers in countries like Spain (81%), Portugal, Hungary, Czechia, and Greece (all 79%) said they supported the use of these terms for cultivated meat, as long as the source was clarified.

Allergy concerns drive preference for clear meat labelling

One of the central concerns highlighted in the new study is the potential allergen risk if consumers mistake cultivated meat for plant-based alternatives.

For example, someone allergic to seafood may unknowingly consume cultivated salmon, believing it to be plant-based if the packaging avoids using clear seafood-related terminology.

To explore this, researchers tested different names and descriptors including ‘cultivated’, ‘cell-cultivated’, ‘cultured’, and ‘artificial’, as well as phrases like ‘made without farming animals’, ‘made from cellular agriculture’, and ‘made from synthetic protein’.

Participants consistently found terms like ‘artificial’ and ‘synthetic protein’ the least effective in identifying potential allergens, with only 32% recognizing the allergy risk.

In contrast, terms like ‘cultured’ and ‘cultivated’ proved more effective, helping 55–58% of respondents identify the food as meat-based.

The study also found that the least preferred terms were viewed as overly technical, misleading, and unappealing by a majority of participants.

Roberts, GFI Europe’s senior policy manager, argued that this strengthens the case for avoiding regulatory mandates that require the use of terms consumers do not understand or trust.

Earlier studies support these findings, including a 2022 peer-reviewed paper that showed ‘lab-grown’ and ‘artificial’ were among the most unpopular terms with consumers.

A 2021 GFI survey of 44 cultivated meat company executives found that 75% of them preferred the term ‘cultivated’ for product labelling.

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