Consumer Clarity or Technological Prestige? The Choice of Names: A Survey Experiment on Japanese Nomenclature for Labeling Food Made with Cultured Cells

Nomenclature used in labeling food using cultured cells is critical for the novel food industry. Currently, different names are used among industry, academia, government ministries, and the media in Japan. A unified name is desirable for communication among the public and stakeholders. This study aims to clarify the characteristics of several commonly used Japanese names for food products made from cultured cells and clarify the potential problems of each name. An online survey was conducted targeting 6,000-panel participants aged 20 to 69, using package images of four types of food products that consumers might encounter in supermarkets: “beef,” “hamburger steak,” “salmon,” and “Japanese steamed fish cake ( kamaboko) ,” testing the names “細胞性( saibousei), ” meaning “cell-based,” “培養( baiyou ),” meaning “cultured,” “細胞培養( saibou baiyou ),” meaning “cell-cultured,” and “人工培養( jinkou baiyou ),” meaning “artificially cultured.” As a result of the experiment, no name was found to be clearly superior across all criteria. The term “cell-based” has advantages, such as being less likely to be mistaken for conventional foods, being less likely to give consumers the impression of being unnatural. On the other hand, the terms “cultured” and “cell-cultured” allow for an association with the production technology through the name. However, they are also prone to misinterpretation, such as being mistaken for farmed fish or being perceived as identical to conventional foods. We discussed that additional explanation about the technology’s characteristics is necessary, depending on the name used.