Is Cultured Meat a Case of Food or Technological Neophobia? On the Usefulness of Studying Social Representations of Novel Foods

In recent years, many studies have examined “novel foods” from various perspectives; however, the theoretical framework of social representations has been underutilized in this research. This paper denotes an initial attempt to study the socio-symbolic impact of synthetic foods using this framework. Specifically, the study aims to explore how different audiences—such as carnivores versus vegetarians—interpret unfamiliar foods, focusing on a new food technology: synthetic meat. The research seeks to describe and compare the social representations of cultured meat that are co-constructed and shared among these social groups (n = 350). The study adopts the structural approach, analyzing both the structure and content of the social representations in question. This was achieved through a mixed-methods strategy, which included hierarchical evocation, a food neophobia scale, checklists, open-ended questions, and a projective sensory analysis technique. Data analysis employed both qualitative and quantitative methods. The main findings indicate the significant roles of generative processes, cognitive polyphasia, and sensory anchors in the co-construction of social representations of cultured meat. The use of chemical-genetic objectification, metaphors, and clichés reflects ongoing debates about the possible implications of synthetic meat consumption for the environment and society. Our findings encourage consideration of social knowledge and cultural variables in food studies.